Becoming Fearless
by Blacksilver17
Summary: A new program is starting in Dauntless. All the members/initiates have to go through their fear landscapes until they eliminate all their fears or all but one. WHAT WILL HAPPEN! Disclaimer: I don't own divergent.
1. Chapter 1

_Tris' POV_

Dauntless leadership is becoming too warped for my taste.

Today, Eric announced to the whole of Dauntless that Dauntless is starting a new program- 'Becoming Fearless'- and that each of us are required to participate. We'd have to go into our fear landscape until we eliminate all of our fears, or all but one, or we'd be kicked out of Dauntless.

What kind of twisted rule is that? Dauntless isn't going to have many people by the end of this. Maybe none.

I wonder what fears I'm going to eliminate. I have 6 so far- the crows, the water tank, the ocean, the burning at the stake by Peter and the gang, shooting my family and of course, the men trying to kill me. Each of these fears hold a special place in me- not in a good way. They give me nightmares and are a particular type of fear each.

Then I think of Tobias.

He has 4 fears- heights, confinement, shooting the woman and his dad with the belt **(I'm sticking with these fears)**, so which fear will _he _eliminate, if any at all? Shooting the woman? He told me once it symbolised the fear of what he'd be asked to do in Dauntless. He's the only person I believe even has a chance of successfully completing this program.

Eric gave us all schedules of our Fear Landscape times. I'm due to go in 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, after Christina, Tobias and Will. I think about the days Tobias used to go into his fear landscape in his free time, for two years, and his fears remained the same. I shudder. Will the program ever really end?

Maybe, maybe not. I think it probably lasts a certain amount of days, weeks or months. But you can just ask people to simply eradicate their fears. Fears reach deep down in you and scare you from there.

My first Fear Landscape's tomorrow, and Tobias' is today. He's in it now.

"Hey Tris!" Christina comes up to me, yelling. "I SAW FOUR'S FEAR LANDSCAPE!"

Emotions overcome me. "WHAT?"

"KIDDING!" She punches my arm, laughing. "What? Have _you _seen his fear landscape?"

"Don't be silly. It's not like he'd ever show it to anyone," I say, trying to weave my way out of it.

"Tris. Seriously. Yes or no," she asks.

"YES!" I yell, exasperated.

"WHAT? WHAT WERE HIS FEARS?" she yells. I suddenly feel really uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you. It's private. The only person he showed it to is me," I say, trying to explain.

"OK, OK...fine. When are you due for your first FL?"

"Tomorrow. After lunch. You?"

"Same, before breakfast. I'm trying to imagine a good day tomorrow when the first thing I see in the morning are moths." She shudders. "I can't."

"Moths are not THAT bad."

"YES THEY ARE! All those stupid bug bodies, creepy, and papery wings...Ew. They're really bad," she says.

I laugh. "Hey, where's Will?"

"He's in the line. Due after Four." The smile that she was previously wearing melts off her face. "He's really not looking forward to it."

"Think anyone will rebel?"

She shrugs. "Probably. Dauntless, after all."

"Some of them are not so. A couple'll probably jump into the chas."

"The chas?"

I roll my eyes. "CHASM, dummy."

She laughs. "Dummy? That's the worst insult you can think of?"

"I'm capable of doing much worse," I say with a glint in my eyes.

"Prove it."

"MOTHOPHOBIC."

She tackles me. "Moth-phobic. Really? That's low, Tris."

I laugh. "Yeah, I know."

I see Tobias looking slightly shaken, walking towards me. As he approaches us, Christina says, "Well, I gotta go. You tow lovebirds have fun!" and she winks.

"WE ARE NOT-" I start, but she's already running away, laughing.

"How was it?" I ask Tobias.

He looks around, checking if anyone was around us. "I got something to tell you, but not here. My FL was the same though. Do fear landscapes even change? I don't know anyone who's ever gotten over a fear. Except maybe you."

I can't deny it. "Yeah, I guess," I say nonchalantly. "C'mon, let's go to the chasm. I want to hear the sound of the water again."

"I thought you said the water reminds you of the attack by Peter, Drew and Al."

"Well, you saved me. So as long as I'm with you, it's okay." I smile as he kisses me lightly. "C'mon."

* * *

"The fear landscape was different, Tris," Tobias whispers to me when we arrive at the chasm.

"What about it?"

"Well, usually you can just calm your heart-rate to move on right? This time, not so easy. You have to find a way to face it head on, maybe even enjoy it."

"WHAT?! But-but that's not fair! Some initiates-"

"Yeah, and Eric loves fair! That's why he makes the initiates beat themselves unconscious and made me throw knives at your head," he says in a mock-happy tone, rolling his eyes.

"We'll just have to find a way to keep surviving."

"Don't we always."

**So...first chapter. What do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

_Tris' POV_

Today's Fear Landscape day.

"Aren't you the least bit nervous?" I demand. Christina is just before me in the line of Fear Landscape times, but even though she acts like she can't STAND any of her fears, she seems surprisingly calm.

"Of course. But try to be calm, and maybe think how WONDERFUL your fear is. For example. Tell me one of your fears."

I think of which one I could tell her. "Um. I'm in a water tank and there's water filling up. And there's no way to escape."

Her eyes widen. "That's...scary Tris. Anyway. Think of how cold and refreshing the water feels. Try to lose common sense, and think that breathing in the water or drinking it is a good idea. Your heart rate will slow down."

I whisper to her what I say next. "Four said they changed it, and your have to overcome your fear instead of slowing your heart rate down."

She slams her hand onto the wall, hard. "WHAT? They CAN'T! I-I can't-"

"They CAN, Christina. And they did. So you better find a way to overcome your fears."

Water tank. I can drink the water, I guess, because it looks clear, not dirty. Crows, I can play among them. Haha. Ocean, and can swim to the shore, yeah. Shooting family, self-sacrifice, or actually shoot them. Kidnapping, say random stuff, act happy, I don't know. Kill them, maybe? Burning. Well, I have no choice. I have to use my Divergence to call rain.

I watch as Marlene, who's before Christina, faces obstacle after obstacle. After she's done, wide-eyed and terrified, Christina goes in. I see her trying to act happy, trying to overcome her fears, but the tension in her shoulders, the fake-ness of her smile gave away that she was really terrified. It takes a while before she's done and comes out. As I walk into the Fear Landscape room, I catch a glimpse of Christina, her head in her hands, her knees curled up towards her, sobbing.

I try to shoot her a sympathetic glance but the operator ushers me in and I can't.

I close my eyes as he inserts the needle into my neck. "Remember, Ms, that the system has changed so that you have to overcome your fear instead of simply calming down." I sigh as the serum goes into my bloodstream, and everything goes black.

* * *

I KNOW what's first. I stand in the endless, empty field, awaiting the crows. I even wince as I see the first bird take flight. I will not call a gun this time, because that's not what will happen in real life. I wait as many of the crows start to surround me. I ignore the burning pain in my shoulders as their talons dig into my skin, as they peck me for all it's worth. I talk, I play, once I even laugh. It is fake, but it will fool my administrator.

I wait for the program to move on. It doesn't.

I scream into my hands and play with the birds individually, touching every feather, stroking each beak. Once, one of them squawks in my face, and even though it's horrible, I let out a laugh. I pretend to enjoy it. My heart feels like it's beating so hard it's going to pop out of my chest. To me- everything sounds fake. Every smile, every movement seems designed to make me go on to the next obstacle, seems made. But it seems as I try to relax, my administrator is more and more convinced that I am getting over my fear, and soon enough, the field disappears and I am on the next obstacle. I breathe a sigh of relief. That was horrible.

It's the glass tank. I try not to look at the people outside the tank, who are steadfastly ignoring that I'm going to die. I try to calm down. When the water reaches my knees, I cup my hands and drink the water. It tastes bitter, surprisingly, but clean enough. I look down as I try to stop the rush of water by drinking it when I notice that there's a change from last time.

The water. It's coming out from a pipe. A small pipe, sure, really narrow and tight, but a pipe nonetheless. I just covered it, blocking the path of the water, and in seconds it moved on.

**(A/N: I'm not sure which order the rest are in, so sorry if I mix it up, etc)**

It's the ocean. The sound of the water is overwhelming, and I grab onto a rock, desperate for survival. As I hold on, I can't help myself- I marvel at the huge body of water. So powerful. Important. It's beautiful.

Yelling, I grab on to more pieces of jagged rock, coming closer and closer to the shore. With one final pull, I haul myself onto the shore, and sigh in relief, panting. By far, this is the most _tiring_ obstacle.

I allow myself to relax, letting my muscles be still and stiff for a while. But when I try to move them, I can't. Oh no, I know what this is. The burning at the stake. I close my eyes for a brief moment. I open them, ready to come out fighting.

"Smell that, Stiff?" Peter asks. I roll my eyes. I think the simulation doesn't change what Peter says, no matter what my response.

"WhatEVER," I say, pretending not to care.

"That's the smell of your burning flesh." The flames start to rise. I scream as the first one touches my bare skin. It stings, it burns. I can't think. It's going to kill me, I'm going to die.

I breathe. Okay, Tris. You have to calm down and call rain, or you're probably going to be stuck here forever. "Know what I smell?"

Peter and the others stare blankly ahead, with smiles of malice plastered across their faces.

"I smell rain." Thunder booms ahead. I feel one drop. It quenches the flames and gradually heals my skin. I let out a sound that sounds like a cross between a sigh and yell as the simulation progresses.

I see mirrors around me. Oh, it's the kidnapping. I hate this one. I position myself inside the dresser, and will a gun to appear. I take it in my hands, and keep as quiet as possible as I hear my kidnappers approach. I hold the door closed just in case.

The main man- the aptitude test one- grabs the handle of the door and with mighty force, pulls it open. I gasp as I am exposed, and I shoot for all it's worth. The man falls, but as usual, many follow behind. This time, I will my gun to reload every time I shoot. I don't run out of bullets, but the simulation doesn't run out of men.

I am dead.

I remember what plan I made for this obstacle. Oh right- act happy. "Oh my gosh, guys! Did you see those new Gucci bags? They are TOTES FABU! And what the PEPPERONI are you guys doing? Kidnapping me to the secret HIDING PLACE?" I fake-giggle, slapping the nearest man's arm. "So NAUGHTY! I'm telling my parents!" I start to laugh. "You guys should really change your clothes! They are SO last season. Know what I mean? It's like, YEAH, you're wearing brown, OK but WHY? That's what was in trend LAST YEAR!" I snap my fingers in the Z formation, the way people do when they want to act sassy.

I'm ridiculous. Maybe my administrator is laughing now. Probably is.

But it worked. I laugh with joy, and relief. IT WORKED! I move on to the next obstacle.

I feel the cold barrel of the gun pressed to my temple before I could assess what'd happen next. "Do it," Jeanine spits out. "Do it, or I'll kill you." I close my eyes.

"Tris, go ahead. I understand." Caleb nods briefly.

"Tris, you have no other option," my father whispers.

"Tris, we love you no matter what." My mother.

**(A/N this is before *SPOILER ALERT* her parents die and Caleb is discovered to be a traitor)**

"SHUT UP!" I scream in frustration. I take the gun in my hand, and toss it on the ground. On second thoughts, I pick it up, and aim.

I fire.

Jeanine's body is on the ground, a bullet to the head, where I aimed it.

I saved my family and myself, but I killed Jeanine. I think that's a pretty balanced combination.

I black out for a moment as I register something- it's over. I've faced all 6 fears.

* * *

"That was...impressive," a voice says. Must be the administrator.

"What was impressive?" I ask.

"Well. Six fears, and you found a way to conquer some pretty tough ones." He nods- regarding me higher than the others. "Good job."

I just scare ahead. How did I do it?

"And also," he adds as I'm walking out the door. "Nice way you handled the kidnapping. It was really funny." He chuckles.

I manage a smile. "Just did it on the top of my head," I reply.

He nods. "Cool. Now you may go. NEXT!"

I step outside as the next person- Lynn- goes in. I see Christina waiting for me.

"Hey, Chris," I greet her as I approach her. She has a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"

She bites her lip. "My fears. I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"Someone must've manipulated the simulation, because the fears-"

**The End! Cliffhanger. Don't hate me. Hope you like the story so far:)**

**-blacksilver17**


	3. Chapter 3

_Tris' POV_

"Well?" I look at her expectantly. "The fears..."

"They weren't mine," she whispers. My heart almost leaps out of my throat.

"Uhhh, what?"

"I don't know who's fears they were. But they were _not _mine. I'm not claustrophobic, and my moths weren't there," she says.

"Claustrophobic?" I ask. She nods. "Well, we have to ask someone that we can trust. Someone who'll know things."

She nods. I go to Tori first. "Hi Tori," I say as I enter the tattoo shop. "We need to talk to you. In _private."_

We walk to the back of the shop. "What is it?" she asks.

I motion towards Christina. "Well, during Fear Landscapes just now, something wasn't right about the sim. They weren't my fears. They were someone else's," she says.

"Also, you know a lot about Divergence and stuff, and we can trust you, so...we came to you," I add.

She nods thoughtfully. "I think someone manipulated it. Someone who wanted to show their enemy or rival's weakness to someone who'd spread it. Someone important, but good with computers."

"Who could've done it? And who's fears were those?" Christina asks. "And most importantly- why did they think I'd spread it?"

I laugh. "You sure you've got your priorities straight, Chris?"

She nods firmly. "Yup! Anyway- answers?"

Tori shrugs. "I don't know. But obviously, we need to find out. Get people you trust. We need to find this Dauntless traitor." **(A/N in this story there's no war so no one's dead and no dauntless traitors...until now)**

The next person we went to was obviously Tobias, or Four to Christina. "Hey To-Four," I correct myself. Christina shoots me a look saying 'what are you hiding?' but I give her an innocent look saying 'what? Nothing'.

"What's up?" Tobias asks us.

"Well. During the Fear Landscapes, the fears seemed a little off at first, but I wasn't sure why," Christina explains. "Then I realized- those weren't my fears."

Tobias' eyes widen. "Tori said it was someone who wanted to expose their enemy's weakness," I say. "Someone important and good with computers."

"Christina..." he begins. "Do you remember any fears?"

She knits her eyebrows together. "Claustrophobia. Definitely. Jumping off a building, I think? There were less than mine. Something about guns...I don't exactly recall."

That doesn't sound good. Those sound like...Tobias' fears.

He looks at me meaningfully. I know what that look means- _see me after this_.

"Okay. I'll try to help. Thanks for telling me," he says, nodding.

"Hey, I need to talk to him for a while. Be a minute," I whisper in Christina's ear. She nods, winking at me. I start to protest, but she's already out the door.

"Bye!" she calls.

As soon as the door shuts, I shout, "Those sound like they were your fears!" the same time he shouts, "Those sound like they were my fears!"

We are always in perfect unison, in our thoughts, our actions. I allow myself a giggle.

"They probably _were_," he says, in a low voice. "I do seem..._dislikeable_ to some of my fellow upperclassmen." He says it politely, but I know what he's actually trying to say is that the leaders are jealous of the way he seems powerful when he's 'lower' than them.

I nod. Wherever you go, no matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, how nice you are- there will always be envy. Someone will _always_ be jealous of you, of your success, your triumphs, how you seem so nice. "So obviously it's one of the leaders."

"Three leaders don't know me. They're in different divisions. Only Eric and Max know me. And either could do it. Eric because he's good with computers, coming from Erudite, and obviously hates me. Max because he said he trained a while with computers and resents me because I turned down the leader job."

Eric and Max are both equal suspects, but I feel as if it is Eric, afraid that Four will overthrow his leader throne, still jealous of the guy who only has 4 fears and beat him in initiation.

"Well?" he demands.

"What?"

"Who do you think it is?"

I hesitate for a second, not knowing why. This is Tobias. I can trust him. "Eric. Just because. He's jealous, because he's afraid that you'll overthrow him. And he's sadistic."

I hear him breathe out a sigh of relief. "Good. Me too. Now go away before Christina suspects something weird happening."

I scurry out the door, yelling a goodbye when I see Christina appear behind me. "Let's go," I say, dragging her to the apartments where Will, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn are crowded in Christina's apartment.

"Hey!" Christina exclaims when we unlock it. "I don't remember giving you guys permission to be here!"

"C'mon Christina, lighten up! Plus, we didn't break in, Will unlocked it for us," Uriah whines.

She glares at Will. "I never should've told you where I kept the emergency key!"

"ANYWAY, what's up guys?" Marlene says, breaking the fight indirectly. She's perched on a table, beside Lynn, who's glaring at everyone as usual.

"Right." Christina explains the situation and how we might have a Dauntless traitor on our hands.

Their eyes widen, even Lynn's. "How..." Uriah mutters to himself.

"Problem is," I say. "We can't find the traitor. And we need your help. The only other people who know are Four and Tori."

"Can I tell Zeke? He's not the traitor. And he'll help," Uriah says.

"Yeah, same with Shauna," Lynn says.

I share a look with Christina, before saying that they could. Then we played the Confession game for a while, just to get this traitor stuff out of our systems. The point of confession was that someone asked you about one of your fears- the strangest, funniest, scariest, etc.- and you had to answer, or you had to sing and dance to a song in the middle of the Pit that the asker picked.

Christina went first. She claimed the rights because it was her apartment. Her eyes moved from Will, to Uriah, to Marlene, to Lynn to me. Then stopped. At me. Crap.

"Tris. Most embarrassing fear."

I thought. None of my fears were that embarrassing really, so I just shrugged. "One of my fears is when a bunch of crows attack me. Stupid to be scared of that but whatever, my turn. Uriah. The fear you wish you didn't have."

He turns red. "I-I-"

"Uri's afraid of unicorns," Marlene says. He glares at her.

"Mar!"

"At least you don't have to sing and dance to some random song in the middle of the Pit. People'd think you're insane!"

"I _am_ insane," he says, mock flipping his hair. "It's part of my charm."

"Charm? What is this 'charm' you say you have?" Lynn says, and Uriah glares at her. Then he points to himself.

"It's all right here! Plus, I love to sing and dance!"

"Yeah, whatever. Just ask someone."

He scans the room. "Ah, Will buddy! Most emotional fear."

"What the heck does that mean?"

"The fear you show the most emotion, duh!"

He thinks for a while. "Well, I'm screaming a LOT when I'm hanging by my toes above a bottomless pit, so it'd be that I guess. Lynn, the most childish fear."

She turns red. "Sgheijej," she mutters.

"What was that?"

"Stuff toys, okay?!" she yells, turning redder than before as we laugh at her. "Mar, weirdest fear."

She laughs. "Okay, so I'm in this world where everything's made of ice-cream and chocolate sauce and all that. I'm afraid that a giant scoop will crush me and hot chocolate sauce will burn me." Everyone laughs as she protests. "In my defense, you could seriously die from that!"

"Death by chocolate," Uriah chuckles. "That's awesome."

"Uri. A fear I don't know about."

He groans. "I knew you'd ask this eventually. I'm afraid of...spiders. SPIDERS, OK?" Everyone starts laughing.

"Dude, I can understand being scared of moths but spiders? Those cute little critters?" Christina says.

He glares at her. Then he points in accusing realization. "Chrissy is afraid of moths! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!" He starts making fun of Christina, then Christina starts making fun of Uriah and they're trying to out-make-fun of each other. **(Sort of like outrun, etc.)**

"Guys! Shut up! Uriah, your turn," I say.

He rolls his eyes. "I will ask you, Tris, since you're the one who told me to shut up," he says. It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Scariest fear."

I think for a while. "I guess kidnapping, but only because I have no solutions for it."

"Then what did you do in the Fear Landscape?" Marlene asks.

I chuckle. "I said a bunch of weird, random stuff, like BROWN IS SO LAST SEASON and THAT NEW GUCCI BAG IS TOTES FABU," I say.

They all laugh. Yes, it's funny. Even I have to admit it.

"Guys...we have to stop now. Focus on the real task. It's getting a little late," Christina says, getting up.

"Christina!" Uriah whines, trying to pull her down but obviously failing, since Christina was still standing up.

I get up as well. "Christina's right. We gotta go. See you guys later!"

Her and I walk out, leaving the others in the room.

I close the door behind us. "Who do you think it is?"

**Updated early for you guys! Yay. Hope ya liked it.**

**Review, follow, favourite!**

**-blacksilver17**


	4. Chapter 4

_Tris' POV_

"Well?" I ask her. "Who do you think it is?"

Christina shrugs. "Well, it could be anyone with a grudge against a highly important or popular person. Eric. Four. Max. Those are the three important people. Someone could be targeting them..." she got a glint in her eyes. "Or they could be targeting each other."

I smile, but not warmly. More like an evil smile. "Let's go find out."

* * *

"CLAUSTROPHOBIA," I say to the others that know. "Jumping off a building, something about guns. Those are three of the fears that Christina remembers. When Eric and Max go into their Fear Landscapes, we have to hack the computers, to see if they have those fears. That's first. Then...the harder part. Finding out who did it."

They- Tobias, Christina, Uriah, Zeke, Marlene, Lynn, Shauna and Tori, bang the tables and shout. That's the Dauntless way of showing that you agree with something.

We head to the room that shows the timetable for everyone. Eric's next one is later today, and Max's is tomorrow morning. Perfect. Not so long, but long enough for us to hatch a plan.

"Four will hack into the computers," Tori starts.

"He'll channel the program into the portable device he gave us," I continue, holding a device up for everyone to see.

"Then we'll know for sure who this person is targeting," Christina finishes. "Since Tris already knows Four's fears."

Everyone looks at me.

"Yeah. But first things first- Eric and Max." I try for a smile, and to my surprise, it works.

"Then let's go see what Eric's afraid of."

* * *

Half an hour later, we- except Tobias- are gathered in Christina's apartment, me mounting the small device up on a wall. Suddenly it blinks to life.

I see Eric in the Erudite compound. He is walking to the HQ, with a nervous look on his face. He opens the door gingerly, and asks for Jeanine. When he sees her in her office, she glares down at him as he says, "We-we couldn't develop the serum, Ms. Matthews."

She yells in rage and screams at Eric and his team for being morons, and Eric cowers. So that's what he's afraid of. Jeanine being angry because he failed. He stares straight ahead, trying to hide the fear in his eyes. He punches Jeanine in the throat and she crumples. The simulation moves on.

It goes on and on for 11 more fears, but none of them what we are looking for, though there was one obstacle where Eric had to shoot the ones he loved most in order to save the rest of the world. Sacrifice. He's afraid of sacrificing.

That was the only thing to do with guns. Eric wasn't claustrophobic, and none of the fears had to do with jumping off a building except a minor part of a fear where he had to escape from terrorists, and the people he killed in his lifetime. He had to jump of a building. But Christina said it wasn't Eric. "I would've broke down under the pressure of sacrifice," she said. "And the guilt of seeing people I'd killed would've crushed me."

Me too. In fact, I kind of feel guilty now, watching Eric's fears, things that should be very, very personal. Then again, he watched MY fears, so not THAT guilty.

"So, not Eric. Let's check on Max tomorrow," Lynn says. We troop out, and head to the tattoo parlour, which is our rendezvous point, to meet with Tobias. He's already there, in the back, where we go regularly to discuss private matters.

"How was it?" he asks quietly.

I shake my head. "It's not Eric."

He nods. "I thought so. He isn't usually the target. He's more of the...attacker."

"We'll have to check Max tomorrow," Tori says. Everyone nods.

"You really think it's him?" Lynn asks.

"No guarantees," Tori replies. "But it's worth a try. If it's not him...well...it's got to be Four."

"Are you going to see my Landscape?" he asks nervously. No wonder. Why would you want to show some random Dauntless your weaknesses?

Tori shakes her head. "You wouldn't want to do that, would you? No. You just have to put _Christina _in, just to confirm."

He sighs in obvious relief. "OK. That's okay."

"Let's get to it then!"

* * *

THE NEXT DAY...

"Rise and shine, lazybones!" Christina yells to me, pulling off the blanket. I groan.

"Chriistttinnaaaa..." I say.

"Come on! Get ready! We have to catch Max's Fear Landscape!"

"Urrrggghhhh..." I say, but still get up, wash up and get changed.

A few minutes later, we're back in Christina's apartment, set up with our little screen. We see black for a while, then Max, walking through his first fear- drowning.

I _never_ expected that.

Like Eric, we skimmed through the details. There were around 10 fears, but none of which were like anything Christina described, except for one where he was forced to shoot everyone blindfolded, and accidentally killed his loved ones.

"So, it's not Max. Meaning it has to be Four," Christina said. "When can I see his landscape?"

I shrug. "I don't know. But please, you have to promise not to show or tell ANYONE about it. Clear?"

She nods. "Clear."

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever! But at least there's no cliffhanger.**

** Review!**

-**blacksilver17**


	5. Chapter 5

_Tris' POV_

Just because we're conducting an ongoing investigation on the fears doesn't mean we're excused from the Fear Landscape times.

The next day, I head to the queue. Marlene is in front of me, and she looks really nervous.

"Hey Tris," she says, biting her lip. "You have any tips for the fear landscapes? Seriously, you're so good and you don't even seem scared. I'm just freaking terrified every time I go in there. Any advice?"

I'm taken aback. Since when does a Dauntless-born ask _me _for advice on something so...Dauntless? "Well...it's nothing really. Just calm down. Make it funny. Even if you feel like screaming, keep it in. Ignore your pumping heart and try to relax."

She sighs in relief. "Oh, thanks Tris. I'll definitely try it. Thank you so much." She's next in line - she goes into the room and I get slightly nervous myself as I stand in the front of the line.

After a while, the administrator calls my name. "Tris Prior!" she shouts as Marlene walks out, looking pale but better than she did last time. She nods at me.

"It didn't solve the problem completely, but uh...it improved it. So thanks for that," she says, then quickly walking away.

I nervously walk into the room. "Take a seat," my administrator tells me, I comply. She sticks the needle in my neck. "Be brave," she whispers, walking over to the computer as I drift into darkness.

* * *

I am standing in the field of course. _A gun will be in my waistband, _I tell myself, and when I reach for it, it's there of course. I hold it, taking aim and shoot the first bird as it comes. I know I won't be able to shoot all the others, so I steady my heartbeat and take calm breaths.

The birds flock around me, pecking me, scratching me. A scream lodges in my throat; I swallow it and do what I did before: have fun, relax. When _they _relax, I find out that I'm able to shoot them. Soon enough, the ground is littered with bird bodies and the simulation moves on.

The tank is next. Water slowly fills up, and I laugh, just to get myself into character. I try to float on the water as it rises. I look for the pipe but it isn't there. So I try to relax as I try to crack the glass. The water fills up; I hold my breath and hit the glass, channeling all my emotions into it. It finally cracks, the water spilling all over the other blank people who were watching me. I slowly fade into the next fear.

**Again, not sure with the order so I'll probably get it wrong:/**

I'm in the ocean this time. I don't know if the fears mix themselves up or if they are always constant but if I lose myself I will die, so I have to use my energy, strength and training to swim to the rocks, try not to get cut up or bruised and save myself.

I swim, muscles screaming for help, as the current threatens to take over. I manage to hold on to a large piece of jagged rock, which is easy to hold on to, but will be a problem to climb over. Nevertheless, I must try. I pull my body up, gladder than ever that I am so small, and avoid the pointed end. It takes timing and precision but I manage to make it. The simulation moves on.

While I try to relax myself, I of course, cannot move because the next fear has come: the burning at the stake. _RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN _I scream in my brain. It's not fast enough; the first flame licks my fingertips and I scream. "Smell that Stiff?" Peter asks. This time, I just ignore him. "That's the smell of your burning flesh." Just then, lightning flashes and a few moments later, thunder rumbles. I scream, slash sigh, slash moan as the drops of rainwater quench the flames that are fated to burn me.

The simulation moves on. It's...it's...well, I have a gun barrel pointed to my head so of course it can only be the fear where I shoot my loved ones. This time, instead of my parents and Caleb, I see Tobias, Christina and all my Dauntless friends. They are arranged in one neat row. "Do it," Jeanine hisses. "Do it, or _I'll _shoot them. I'll give you five seconds."

My heart starts pounding, but not with fear. Not with sadness. Not with the grief I'll feel when they die. No, my heart pounds with anger. How dare she? How _dare _she threaten to kill my friends? "5. 4. 3."

You know what? I don't care.

I hate Jeanine Matthews so much that I do the one thing she would not.

I point my gun towards her and shoot her through the stomach. She gasps and collapses, lifeless. But the simulation does not progress, but I know what I'm supposed to do. As my loved ones run towards me, I smile sadly. "I'm sorry." I will never be used as bait again. I do the only thing I can do in order to put them out of harm. I point the gun towards myself, and fire.

* * *

The landscape ends.

"That was...impressive, Ms. Prior," my administrator compliments me as she looks up from the computer. "Sacrificing yourself to save your loved ones...that is truly noble."

"Wait...you can see my thoughts?" I ask.

"Yes- well, when I want to. The machine picks up everything, and I can activate the subtitle of your thoughts with one push of a button," she replies. I shake my head. My thoughts, as subtitles?

"Wow," is all I can say.

"Nevertheless, we mustn't hold up the queue. Lunch is soon, and no one would want to miss the cook's Dauntless cake, would they?" she says, ushering me out. "NEXT!"

I rush out, realising something suddenly. There were only 5 fears. I am no more Six; I am Five. I eliminated the kidnapping. Maybe next time, shooting my loved ones will be eliminated too and I will be Four, just like Tobias.

Christina is waiting for me outside impatiently. "Where have you been, Tris?! I've been waiting forever. It's nearly lunchtime and I have to talk to you."

She pulls me to the Pit and guides me towards one of the benches. We sit down. "What is it, Christina?" I say impatiently.

"Okay, good thing is, when I went through the fear landscape, I was aware that it was someone else's so I paid a close attention to detail. First fear was definitely heights. No doubt. Second was a box that was enclosing me, so I guess it's claustrophobia. Third was, the gun one. I forget. Last one...well...it was painful...hmm...oh yes! The belt! This weird-looking man with an Abnegation haircut was hitting me with a belt. Of course, I beat the crap out of him so...yeah, that's it."

So confirmed: it is definitely Tobias' fear landscape. Should I be happy that we're finally confirmed or sad, because we know for sure that someone is out to get him?

**Haven't updated in forever, I know. SOWWY:( But yknow...I have school stuff...and other stuff. So...hope you liked the chapter. If you like Divergent check out my other story/s**


	6. Chapter 6

**I thought that it'd be interesting to write from a diff POV so thar ya go! New chapter, from...**

_Tobias' POV_

_"Mr Eaton, I'd like you to hold still," a kind administrator says. "The execution will only last seconds. It will be performed by a fellow colleague of yours: I believe his name is Eric."_

_My heart pounds. Who's execution is this?_

_Eric enters. "So. The great and mighty FOUR. Finally brought to the execution room."_

_Then it dawns on me. It's MY execution. _

_"BEHIND YOU ERIC!" I yell._

_He is taken aback and looks behind him; I run from the chair and knock him down, punching the daylights out of him. Then Max enters and drags me to the chasm. "Don't run away from the inevitable, FOUR," he snarls, hissing my name, and pushes me into the water. I am falling; I remember screaming, and just as I am about to hit the rocks..._

I wake up in a cold sweat. I'm in my bed- no chasm, no Eric, no Max, no execution. It was just a dream.

The same dream I've had ever since Tris and I have suspected that Eric and/or Max were after me, the same nightmare I wake up to, every single night since that day.

"Urgh," I groan, getting up. It's 6.30am- a typical wake-up time for me. I have to go to the gym first, change, then head over to Tris'- hey, I'm allowed to have some of my own time, right?- then head down to breakfast.

_WARPED TIME!_

I walk to Tris' room, and gently push the door open. She's still asleep. I don't want to wake her, so I lie next to her. She's in her _Dauntless: The Brave _pajamas, and her hair is messed up over her face. I gently push it to the side so I can see her beautiful face. She always insists that she's not pretty- in what world? I always think to myself. She is not like the other girls, she is small, strong and beautiful and I love her.

She suddenly smiles. "Tobias," she whispers, and I smile.

"Morning, Trissy," I teasingly say.

She slaps my arm. "You know that I hate that name."

I grin. "That's why I use it."

We both laugh. Suddenly, she notices that I'm in bed with her. "Wait...we slept together last night?" she says in a panic.

I soothe her. "No, don't fret. I came in this morning."

She breathes out. "Okay then."

We lie in silence, enjoying each other's embrace when she suddenly breaks the silence.

"Tobias, I have something to tell you." She bites her lip.

"What is it?" I say, getting worried. It's never good when a girl says that to you.

"It's confirmed. The fears are yours. Christina told me yesterday and it all adds up," she replies.

I knew this was coming, so why was I so upset?

"We knew this," I say firmly.

"I know, Tobias, but still- someone really doesn't like you. They don't like you to a point that they want you to be shown as weak in front of the whole Dauntless compound. This is serious."

"I know."

"We have to find out if it's Eric or Max."

"I know."

"We're running out of time. This person's going to get restless and just project it in the Pit or something."

"I know."

"And-"

"Tris. Relax. We will catch this person. I know we will. We have all our friends to back us up. Okay?"

"Okay." She breathes out, calming herself.

"We should head down to breakfast. No time to waste, because as you said, time is running out," I say, getting up. She groans. "C'mon Trissy. Up!"

"Tobias..." she groans.

"Come on!" I encourage and grab one of her hands to pull her up. She groans further and rolls onto the floor, hitting her head.

"Ow," she mutters as I laugh.

"Well, you should've just got up properly, see? Now let's go," I say. Groaning, she gets to her feet and grabs my hand as I pull her up before heading to the bathroom to wash up and change.

"You go on to breakfast, Tobias, I'll be there in a while!" she yells from inside and I say okay before heading to breakfast.

~~~_[TIME IS BEING WARPED!]_~~~

We're at the breakfast table when Christina, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn, along with Zeke and Shauna, join us.

"Guys," Christina says breathlessly, holding up her laptop. She opens it and moves it so it faces us. A video display pops up- it's some of last night's security footage. Years of working at the control room have, at least, taught me how to recognize footage when I see it, and how to check the date and time. "Play it."

We press on the small 'play' arrow at the top right (specially developed by Erudite) and the fear landscape room comes into focus. It's not being used, but someone is meddling with the computer. This person has long black hair which is dyed in various places and had quite a number of piercings. Many Dauntless fit that description, but I recognize her nonetheless.

Tori.

There's another figure too, though, but I can't see who he- or she- is. Judging by the look in Tris' face, she can't tell either. It seemed like this person knew exactly where the camera was and tried their best to stay out of its viewing area and in the shadows. "Put me through his landscape," the figure says. I don't recognize the voice, but it's a man.

"Who's?"

"You know who's." **(I just thought of Harry PotterXD)****  
**

"Eaton's?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Let me just sort through the program. It's fairly difficult to do without injecting him. The machine is not manufactured to put you through someone else's fear landscape."

"You _can _do it though, right?" the figure's voice growls.

Tori nods nervously. "Y-Yes, of course I can."

The figure nods with approval. "Good. And let's cover up that camera, eh? Never know when our friends at the control room are watching."

I see Tori reaching up and grabbing the half-hidden camera from the corner, and the screen goes black.

Christina pulls her laptop back, closing it. She registers the look of shock on my face and on Tris' face. She smiles sadly. "I know. I never expected Tori to go to the dark side either."

"Neither can we," Marlene says sadly.

"Well, sometimes, reality is different from what we imagine, isn't it?" Zeke says.

I have a sudden stroke of inspiration.

"Well, we do have an advantage," I say. "Tori and Er- I mean, the other figure in the room, don't know that we know this."

"Unless they planted it there on purpose," Tris interjects.

"Right. There's also that." I sigh. "Well, Tori comes to these 'meetings'. If it isn't obvious, don't tell her anything of use. Act casually. Maybe we can plant a false trail for them to follow."

"False trail?" a voice says, coming up to us with a tray of food. "Go for it."

It's Tori.

Immediately, everyone becomes uneasy. Zeke and Uriah start whistling, Marlene plays with her hair, Lynn looks down to cut her sausage with a dagger and me and Tris refuse to look her in the eye. Only Christina seems even remotely calm. "Hey Tori." She gulps. Okay. Maybe she's not as calm as I thought.

"Hey Christina. Guys," Tori says. "Okay, so what false trail?"

I look at the others meaningfully. "Um. We were laying a false trail for Eric and Max."

"Oh, cool. Details?"

"Heh-heh, see, funny thing, we haven't worked it out yet," Marlene stammers.

"Oh. That's okay, maybe we'll meet up at the tattoo shop at noon?" Tori suggests.

Everyone nervously nods. "Well...okay then. Look, I gotta go talk to Bud. We're discussing new tattoo designs. Gotta run. See you at noon," she says, and walks off. We all breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness that's over," Lynn says in relief. "It was a nightmare. And...we're meeting her at the tattoo shop?"

Tris nods confidently. "Yeah. That way, we can set a false trail- which will be the real trail- and tell her about the 'real' trail, which will actually be the false one."

I whistle. "Wow, Tris, that's a sneaky mind you've got there."

She blushes. "It happens."

"11 o'clock, my place? To discuss the real and fake trails. And make sure it's camera-free and eavesdropper-free," I say. Everyone nods.

"Well, see you. It's time to go to the fear landscape for me," Lynn says, and Marlene nods, getting up, mouthing, _She gets scared._

Who knew?

"Well, my time is after Mar, so I gotta run too," Uriah says, putting a hand around Marlene's shoulder and going off. The others go off too, and soon enough, it's just me and Tris again.

"So what do you think?" I ask her.

"I think that it's a good plan. I still can't believe Tori was against you the whole time, though," she replies with a worried look. "She always seemed so nice."

"Well, looks can be deceiving."

"I guess."

We sit in each other's silence, but taking comfort in other people's sounds, the noise of 500 Dauntless washing over us, and comforting me. Finally, something familiar, because this is home. As close to home as I'll ever get without abuse, anyway.

"We'll catch them, Tobias. You'll see." She tries to comfort me, seeing the worried look on my face. I smile.

"I know. Don't you worry about me, Tris. I'm fine."

She smiles. "I know."

I get up. "Walk by the chasm?"

"Walk by the chasm." She gets up and takes my hand, and we walk to the chasm, because somehow, we both like it there.

Well, Tris and I are really similar, even in ways we don't understand.

**OK, folks, that's all for today. Hoped you liked the chapter. Tori is bad? O.o Don't worry. Four and Tris are going to be okay. Okay?Okay. Sorry for the long wait. **

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	7. Chapter 7

_Tobias' POV_

I can't trust anyone, except maybe Zeke and Tris. The others are a liability- I thought we could trust Tori, but apparently she was here purely as a spy. She didn't have interest in locating this guilty one- in fact, she _was _one of the guilty ones.

Sometimes, I think, _Wow, the Dauntless are really brave. How can they dare to do that? They're so Dauntless._ Other times, I remember what Dauntless is _really_ supposed to be like- that is, not reckless acts of brave foolishness- and in comparison, the Dauntless don't really seem so Dauntless anymore. I recite part of the Dauntless faction Manifesto in my head.

_We believe in freedom from fear, in denying fear the power to influence our decisions. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. We believe in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves. We do not believe that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence._

That's exactly what Dauntless should be about, and that's noble. I would be honoured to join a faction like that.

But _this _Dauntless...let's put it this way. The Dauntless here are brave enough to slide down a zipline, or get a tattoo, but aren't brave enough to stand up to the people who are powerful (supposedly) but wrong. They aren't brave enough to stand up for themselves, to do this as long as it means not betraying their friends.

My initial reaction to Tori's betrayal was shock; now, my anger, which was bubbling inside me for quite a while, shows itself. How can this grown Dauntless woman who works in the tattoo parlour be intimidated by Eric or Max (or possibly someone else), not even attempting to stand up for herself, and betraying her friends?

Well, at least the PRIVATE meeting later will hopefully lift my spirits. I'll take great pleasure to lay a false trail for the traitor and her accomplices to follow. Then, we will catch the guilty ones, punish them as we see fit and keep our fears even more safely hidden.

At 11am, I make my way to the apartment. I find Tris, Christina, Zeke, Shauna, Uriah and Marlene already there. "Where's Lynn?" I ask as I unlock the door and they file in.

"She's still in the fear landscape. Should be done in around a minute...anyway, she'll be here soon," Marlene explains. I shrug. Just that moment, she enters.

"OK, so what's the fake trail, first of all?" Tris asks.

Good question.

"Ah...well...we need a plan to catch this person. It's clear that Tori is just an accomplice, not the mastermind. So obviously, we'd need to tempt the person to show themselves...and then we can catch them in the act. Red-handed. Just like _that_!" I say, slapping my hand on my armrest to emphasize the last word. It's clear that my Abnegation tendencies are long gone.

Tris laughs. Evidently, she's thinking the same thing. "OK, thank you for the sound effects, Mr Dramatic, but more importantly, we need the plan."

"Something tempting," Zeke puts in.

"Something irresistible," Shauna says.

"Something they'd HAVE to go for," Uriah finishes.

"Like what, may I ask?" Lynn asks with a dry look.

"Someone who'd be willing to spread the word," I say, with a sudden burst of inspiration. Everyone looks at me with interest. "I mean, that was the person's goal in the first place, with Christina, wasn't it? To spread the word of my fears so I'd seem weak?"

Tris nods slowly. "Yeah. I suppose...Where are we going to find someone like that?"

I shake my head. "We don't. We just need someone to _pretend_ to be like that. So who's the best actor here?"

Zeke, Shauna, Lynn and Marlene say, "Uriah," in unison. Uriah shrugs, but has a big grin on his face.

I grin. "Uriah it is. It'll be pretty believable too, huh? Uriah's kind of...well...let's go with 'talkative'. And he could just pretend to have a vendetta against me or-"

"OR, I could pretend to be someone else," Uriah interrupts with an evil smile. He grabs a hat from my table, tucks in his shirt and stands up, putting on a British accent. "Hello there, d'you have anything to hold out against Four? I'd be delighted to spread the word." He spreads his hands. "Well, how was that?" he asks us, still in his accent. He takes off the cap and pulls out his shirt.

We all clap. It's not thundering applause, but it's not exactly soft. "Yeah...you should be the one acting," Tris says.

Uriah grins and sits down. "Thanks."

"Now...what's the trail?" Christina asks.

"So...the plan: Uriah lurks in the fear landscape room during lunch, and plants extra cameras around the room. We tell Tori this, one day earlier, so she can tell her 'boss' about it- well, we tell her that there is someone who threatens us, that is willing to spread the word about my fears but don't tell her about the cameras. Tori tells the mastermind, they both come to the room, Uriah does his thing and we all burst into the room, catching them red-handed. We have the cameras as evidence, if anyone convicts us for unprovoked attack against them. And voila- our little criminals are caught. The end," I announce. When I'm done speaking, everyone claps.

"Wow, nicely put, Four!" Shauna calls. I grin.

"Well, basically, I'm stringing all of your ideas together," I say.

"So that's settled?" Tris asks, acknowledging all of us. We all nod.

Lynn calls out. "What do we tell Tori later, during our meeting with her in..." She checks her watch. "Half an hour?"

"We tell her exactly that. There's someone willing to spread the word about Four's fears and we can't let the culprit get to him," Tris says simply.

We all nod.

"We better get a move on. Tori will be waiting for us," I say. "Oh, and try not to act like you hate her. I know we all do, but we have to throw her off our scent. Act as if everything is normal, we don't know anything and, well, life before we saw that footage," I add.

We file out of the room and head over to the tattoo parlour, and to the back room, where Tori is waiting. "All of you together? No way you were all in the same place."

Crap, I forgot to tell them to come in pairs, threes or alone. It was bound to look suspicious if we all came in at once. I quickly rack my brains for a cover story. "Well, uh, we were, uh, at the Pit, me and Tris, I mean, and we bumped into Uriah, Lynn and Marlene and Christina was talking to someone, we saw her too and since it was almost time for the meeting we all just came together."

Tori nods. "Oh. So, the plan."

"I heard that someone was threatening to spread the word," Tris says quickly. "You know. I'm not sure who it is, but this person is a threat- they could work very well for Max and Eric, couldn't they?"

Tori nods carefully, like she doesn't want to give away anything. Or maybe I'm just paranoid, ready to believe the worst of her. "When are yo-I mean, we, going to catch this person?"

"Well, I heard he or she lurks at the Fear Landscape room a lot. Apparently, he or she finds it 'fascinating'. A transfer- an Erudite, probably, to be interested in something like that. The mechanisms involved, the technology...I heard that the Erudite themselves perfected it," Tris adds- a nice touch, because I think that they _did_.

"Yeah, they did," Tori confirms- she was a former Erudite.

"So, I think we should do it tomorrow," Uriah pipes up suddenly. "Y'know, the sooner the better. Plus, no one has fear landscape times tomorrow..right?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Well, I have one at 8:30 at night," Christina says, but Uriah quickly covers this up.

"Yeah, we aren't going somewhere at night, okay? I've heard that...you know..._bad things _happen to Dauntless who wander around at night. It's against the rules, you know? It's okay to party at your own room, or apartment, or whatever, but do _not _go out into the Pit or the Fear Landscape room. The Patrol will catch you," Uriah says, making things up wildly.

Tori raises her eyebrows. "I had no idea," she says somewhat coldly. "I'll keep it in mind."

There is an awkward silence, but I quickly break it before Tori senses the tension.

"So, uh, who do you think it is?" I ask them.

"Eric. No doubt," Christina says, looking very doubtful indeed.

"Why not Max, eh? He's way more powerful. Eric is just a pawn," Lynn counters.

"I don't think it's either," Tori says, making us jump. With the sound of the traitor's voice, a shiver runs through our veins.

"Then, who would it be?" Tris asks.

"Maybe it's someone who is tired of having such little power when they're clearly better than all the others," she replies cooly. "Maybe it's someone who's _willing _to be a pawn."

"Who would do something so _horrible_?" Tris asks, deliberately emphasizing the word 'horrible' so Tori knows what she thinks of her.

"Someone who wants _more_," Tori continues, as if Tris doesn't even faze her. "Someone who will do anything, as long as they're recognized."

"What if they're not? What if they do someone else's bidding, and nothing comes out of it for them?!" Tris yells.

"They will! They trust their master!" Tori shouts back. "They have a notion called trust!"

"What if they put their trust into the wrong person?!"

"They didn't!"

"What if they did?"

"They did not. They did everything in their power to make sure they weren't being cheated!"

"And how would you know about it?"

I slap my hand on my forehead silently. I _told _all of them to act normally, to throw her off the scent. Clearly, Tris doesn't care- her hatred blinds her, and her temper.

Maybe, in a strange, strange way, that's one of the reasons I love her. She's not afraid of standing up to herself, to other people, for herself.

"I-I know many things that you don't know, Tris. You'd be surprised," Tori says.

Just then, Eric comes in. "Tori-" he begins, but immediately stops when he sees us. "Ah. Tris, Four. Christina. Marlene, Uriah, Lynn. Zeke, Shauna. What a coincidence. Here for a new tattoo too, I suppose?" He's clearly not here for a tattoo, and knows that _we _clearly aren't too.

I suddenly realise how much he might've heard. Who knows how long he might've been standing outside, listening to Tori and Tris' shouting match.

Eric looks at Tori meaningfully, before nodding towards us then outside. No one else noticed, I think, but I'm trained to notice the usually-unnoticeable, so I do. It's obvious what he told her- he wants us outside so he can have a private chat with her.

Just to buy time- not because I want to- I quickly say, "Tori, can I have a tattoo of the Dauntless flames here?" I point to my forearm.

Tori and Eric exchange a look. "Sure, Four."

Eric patiently sits and waits for Tori to finish. He must need to tell her something important, or he wouldn't be here anything. As I recall, he's not a very patient person.

After it's done, I look with fear to Tris- we can't let Eric have his conversation with Tori- it might spoil all our plans. She catches on quickly. "Uh, Tori, could I have one too? Same design, same place."

Tori lets out a sigh of exasperation- apparently, she notices her mistake, because she quickly suppresses it. "Sure, Tris." Eric groans, but stays until Tori is finished.

The others catch on, each requesting a Dauntless flame on their forearms. It's 8 at night when we finally leave, and Eric left too- he must've had something to do, or else got tired of waiting. At any rate, we decide to camp outside the tattoo parlour, because Tori and Eric are obviously going to have this conversation. Sure enough, a figure walks in.

Suddenly, a thought surfaces. This might not be Eric. We've never seen proof it is. I'm just very biased against him- who wouldn't be, after everything we've been through? Then again, he _was _acting very suspicious just now.

"They know," the figure says- I can't particularly make out the voice, but it's obviously a man's. "Tris, Four- the whole group knows that you are under my command."

"Yes," Tori agrees. "I could tell by the way Tris was shouting at me."

I could somehow _feel _Tris blushing.

"What should we do? The plan might be foiled."

"Oh, no matter. You see, maybe they don't trust me, but they _do _tell me some important information."

"Like what?"

"Like there is a threat in the Fear Landscape room- well, a threat to _them_ anyway. He or she may be useful to us."

"What is this asset?"

"Someone who is willing to spread the word on Four's weaknesses, publicly humiliate him," she says glumly. I go red- I'd almost forgotten that the whole reason for this is _me_. I'm the one who they're really trying to put down.

Then I realise that it's rather strange she sounds glum- she sounded fairly excited just now.

Eric got an evil glint in his eye. "Excellent."

The two of them walked out, Tori hunching defeatedly and Eric straight up, excited. All of us quickly hid out of their view as they proceeded in the opposite direction.

"Well, what do you think?" I whispered to Tris. She didn't reply, just showed me a grim look. That looked showed me a million things, but mainly the fact that she was still shocked about Tori being a traitor, but was ready to fight until her last breath.

"I think that it's time to put the plan in action."

**THE END, HOPE YA LIKED IT:)**

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	8. Chapter 8

_Tobias' POV_

THE NEXT DAY, all of us gather in my apartment. As Tris rightly said, we cannot waste anymore time waiting. It is time to put the plan in action.

No one is too busy with their Fear Landscapes, so when everyone has arrived, we quickly finalise the plan.

"So, Uriah will be waiting the Fear Landscape room, when everyone is at lunch...besides the culprit...or culprits, I guess," I begin.

"I'll be pretending that I hate Four," Uriah continues. "That I'll do anything to spread the word about how...cowardly? How cowardly you are." He must notice the tension rise in my eyes, because he quickly adds, "Of course, that's completely the opposite of what you _actually _are...you're the bravest guy I know."

I nod. "Thank you."

"Um, anyway," Tris says. "Tori and...well, whoever her boss is, will be there, ready to ambush Uriah and force him or compromise or make a deal with him about spreading the word."

"Yeah," Christina says.. "Then, a few minutes into the negotiation, we'll all burst into the room, catching them red-handed-"

"Um, about that," I say, interrupting her. "I just think...maybe just Tris and I should go and catch them. That way, if we're wrong, the whole operation isn't blown...we'll have backup. You guys." I point at the others. "Maybe you can just keep an eye on us through the hidden cameras me and Zeke are installing right after we're done here."

"Yup," Zeke says. "Me and Four. The pros."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"Fine," Marlene says. "We'll stay and _miss all the fun._"

"Oh, shut up Marlene," Tris says jokingly. "At least you won't be the one getting busted if we get caught."

"I'd rather take the risk," Lynn says, raising her eyebrows. "Which Dauntless wouldn't?"

"Dauntless have to be smart, not just brave," I say. "So we need people to carry on if we don't make it."

"Fine, whatever," Lynn says, rolling her eyes. "Let's just get on with it."

"Well, that's basically it," I say. "Anything to add, anyone?"

"Um, point in question," Uriah says, raising his hand. "Even if we _do _catch them, what will we do with them?"

"Well, that's for us to decide, I guess," Tris says. "Obviously, we can't bring them to the leaders, because one of them _is _probably a leader. I guess we'll just do whatever feels right."

Everyone nods.

"Well, looks like we're all done here," Zeke says, standing up. "Looks like lunch is in..." he checks his watch. "Half and hour. Plenty of time for us to install the cameras."

"What if someone is using the FL room right now?" Marlene points out.

Zeke taps his fingers against his leg. "Well...our real problem is going to be the administrator, since the subject is going to be in their fear landscape. Simple then."

"We have 2 choices," I say. "Number one- deal with them by force. Knock them out or chase them out. Number two- we can use trickery."

"Pretend to be from IT," Zeke suggests. "Well, we _are_ from the control room, which is basically IT, so it's not technically lying.."

"So, votes. Which choice should we take? And um, me and Zeke aren't allowed to vote, " I call. "Anyone for number one?" Shauna, Lynn and Marlene raise their hands. "Three votes. Anyone for number two?" Tris, Uriah, Christina raise their hands. "Looks like we have a draw. Shall we add in me and Zeke?" Shouts of 'Yeah!' can be heard, so I quickly redo the voting. Both me and Zeke vote for trickery.

"Zeke!" Shauna exclaims, faking a look of shock and horror. "Force, man! Come on, aren't you Dauntless?"

Zeke shrugs. "Well, Four was right. Dauntless have to be smart too. It's not just an Erudite thing. It's about strategy, which one is more likely to succeed."

She sighs. "Fine, whatever."

We plan out the details, and they head to lunch while the two of us head over to the FL room.

* * *

"SO," I say, mainly to break the silence as the two of us walk. "What's up? Don't really hear much from you these days, besides the hacker thing."

He shrugs. "It's not like the hacker is just _nothing. _I mean, you're my best friend, and if someone is out to get you, I want to catch them. Not to mention he- or she- found it pretty easy to hack into our systems, so that's problem too."

"Well, still, we have lives outside of this."

"Yeah, and we'll continue living them by tomorrow. Remember, this will all be over today, at lunchtime, for good or bad."

* * *

I consider it slowly. "Yeah, I guess it will, won't it?" We walk in silence for a while. "So, how good are you in acting?"

We work out the story of our trickery- I will be the one that's mainly doing the talking, because for some reason, Zeke says he's horrible actor and just _cannot _stop laughing. It would be hard enough with him not saying anything.

We finally reach the fear landscape room. As predicted, an administrator is standing there with the person assigned for Fear Landscape- a boy with bushy blond hair, a nose ring and a Dauntless tattoo on his forearm. He would be intimidating to the average eye, but now that he is in the simulation, he looks terrified, not terrifying.

I push open the door. "Excuse me, Ma'am. We're from IT, and we believe there's something wrong with the Fear Landscape system. It may harm you. If you could please exit the room-" I say, pointing outside. The administrator nods quickly and walks out of sight.

"Now what do we do about..." Zeke nods towards the boy. I shrug.

"You know how many fears left he has?" I ask. Zeke rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, I definitely know how many fears this random guy has," he says sarcastically. "I'm a super genius, and I know everything."

"Oh, shut up."

We decide to take the risk of installing the cameras while he is still in his fear landscape. We are experts in the IT field- we could do this quickly. Hopefully we could just come in, install the cameras and sneak out without this guy ever knowing we were here. And, there were no-

"OH, SHIT!" I exclaim. Zeke quickly shifts his gaze to me. I don't swear often, so he must figure that something serious has happened.

"What is it?" he asks.

"God, we were so obsessed with our own cameras that we forgot that this room has its own cameras," I say, slapping my forehead. "We have to disable those too."

"Oh, god, how could we have forgotten?!" Zeke says, slapping his own forehead. However, just as we are relishing in our own stupidity, the boy slowly opens his eyes, the look of fear still on his face. He turns his head to look for the administrator's approval to be dismissed. Then he sees us. I curse un

* * *

der my breath.

"Um...hi," I say. "So, you can go, I guess. Don't worry about it. We're from IT, and we're just, um, doing something with...some IT thing. You don't need to know. Um, anyway, we've already informed the admin, so, yeah, no worries, just go."

"And forget you ever saw us," Zeke adds.

Slowly getting out of his chair, the boy heads towards the door, never taking his eyes off us. Then, when he reaches the door, he runs. He runs away quickly.

"Well, that was a close one," I say, and Zeke nods.

"Yeah, no kidding," he mutters. "Now let's get to work."

* * *

IT TAKES 15 minutes for us to disable the old cameras and install the new ones- not a bad time, but we _have _worked in the control room for the entire time we've been at Dauntless- the only job I've ever known, besides instructor. What more could you expect from us?

After we're done, we head to lunch, and I download the camera feed onto a tablet I had taken from the control room storage. After a few clicks, it shows the Fear Landscape room cameras' live footage- 24/7.

"Look at this," I tell Zeke, over a slice of Dauntless cake. "It shows whatever the camera sees. Awesome, right?" I show him the tablet.

He rolls his eyes. "Ah, you can't expect me to be impressed by that! It's beginner's work, man!"

I pull back the tablet. "Whatever."

Tris and Christina walk to our table with trays, debating something loudly.

"-wouldn't survive a _minute _in Candor or Dauntless!" Tris yells.

"I'm a Dauntless now," Christina argues back.

"Yeah, but you still have Candor instincts!" Tris counters.

They stop when they see us.

"Hey guys," Tris greets us, then somewhat softly, she whispers, "How'd it go?"

"Great," I whisper back. I bring the tablet back out. "Live feed. Uriah in there yet?"

The two girls glance over. "Impressive, Mr IT," Christina says. "And he should be there any- yeah, there he is, he's walking in."

Sure enough, the figure of a teenaged boy- Uriah- dominates the screen. He's wearing a pair of sunglasses, a Sherlock Holmes-style hat- i.e. a deerstalker- and a Dauntless outfit- black jeans, black t-shirt, black hoodie. His hands are in his pockets, and he is pacing the room, whistling, occasionally pausing and leaning against the walls. After a few minutes with no arrival of the baddies, I can see that Uriah is beginning to get restless, bored- that he is tempted to drop to charade. But I pray he can hold on for a little while longer...just until Tori and her accomplice arrive. And they _will. _That much I'm sure of.

Suddenly, just as I think of it, two hooded figures slowly push open the door- one is female, and one is male. They both wear black hoodies like Uriah, and sunglasses. I could just imagine Uriah's reaction if he weren't so deep in character-_ "Oh my god, they stole my outfit! I am just too fab for them." _Actually, that sounds a bit girly. Nevermind.

"So," the female says. If it wasn't confirmed already, she is definitely Tori. "We've received intel that you were here, willing to spread the word about a certain someone's fears, appearing to make them seem weak. Are you?"

"Aye," Uriah says. I bite back a laugh. Is he really going for the pirate accent? "Me, John Sam. -Uels. John Samuels. Yes, I am willing. Urm, exactly whose fears am I spreading?"

"Um, John," Tori says. "You are going to be spreading the fears of a certain Dauntless official we believe to be corrupt, and who is corrupting the young members- and initiates- of Dauntless."

I can see Uriah trying not to smile, but I have to concentrate on trying not to laugh out loud myself. Is that really the excuse they're giving for me? Besides, I wasn't even a Dauntless official! Wow, Tori had really gone out of her mind.

"And who might this be?" Uriah asks nonchalantly.

"None of your business," Tori snaps. She glares at him.

Uriah holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine, woman. You nevNo!er heard it from me. I was just curious."

Tori's glare softens as she looks at Uriah. Her brows furrow, as if she vaguely recognises him. "I..."

"So, who's your friend there?" Uriah interrupts loudly. Apparently, he sensed the almost-recognition too. He was killing two birds with one stone- stopping Tori's train of thought on recognition, and finding out who our mastermind was. "Very silent. In the shadows. You sure he's with you?"

"Yes," Tori snaps again. "He's my bo-um, nothing."

"Your boss, eh?" Uriah says. "Then shouldn't he be the one doing the sales pitch?"

"This isn't a _sales pitch_," Tori growls. "It's non-negotiable. You have to do it...or..." She pulls a knife out of her back pocket and fingers it delicately.

Uriah takes a step back. "Wow...sharp knife you got there."

"Do it or you're dead, scum."

He raises an eyebrow. "I would treat the person whose services you need with more respect. Or he might not do it."

"Just remember what I said..." Tori says menacingly, fingering the knife- touching the point to Uriah's throat. "Boom...dead. Sooner than anyone can realise. Including you."

"Um...wow. Creepy. So, where are these fears that you so badly want to spread?" Uriah says, trying to change the subject.

It works. "We downloaded it here a couple days ago," she says, her voice back to normal. She points to the nearest computer. "Just four fears. That's all you need to do."

"And there's the small reward of my payment."

Tori's glare becomes dangerously threatening. "Your life. That's the reward I offer."

"I need more." Uriah is starting is negotiation mode- I can tell. I'm not sure if it's a good idea at this point.

"What more could you need than your life?" Tori asks. She sounds threatening, and dangerously so.

**(A/N: I completely forgot what they do for currency in Dauntless. I know it was mentioned in Divergent, but I can't seem to recall what it's called...it was something like 'credits', or 'points', wasn't it? Tris buys a dress, I think it was, with it...but I can't remember the name of the currency they use. So. If you remember, please tell me, thanks!)**

"Gold, maybe?" Uriah asks, somewhat sarcastically. "I don't know, just an idea."

**(Do they actually use money? I don't think they do, so excuse this part please.)**

Tori raises an eyebrow. "You would dare trade your life for money?"

Uriah shrugs. "Whatever, you know? I'm Dauntless. Gotta live my life. Best way to do that- with money."

"There are lots of other ways to live your life without money."

"Well, yeah, but not in my book," Uriah says. I had to admire the way he so magnificently improvised. "So, I got the cash or what?"

No! I silently yell to him. Stop, stop! You don't need cash! Just stop! I can tell Tori is close to disagreeing.

_No!_ I silently yell to him. _Stop, stop! You don't need cash! Just stop!_ I can tell Tori is close to disagreeing.

Surprisingly, she contemplates it. "Hmm, I don't know. We don't have much in the budget for this project, do we, Big E?"

The words ring loud and clear in my mind as they replay themselves.

_Big E._

It has to be Eric- it just _had _to. E for Eric, or maybe E for Erudite, his faction of origin. But then again, maybe that was too obvious.

"No, you're right," 'Big E' says. His voice vaguely sounds like Eric, only much deeper. I can barely place it. "There's not much in the budget for this. But if this kid can really do as he says, and spread news of the fears faster than I can eat a plate of Dauntless cake-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Uriah interrupts. "I never said anything about being faster than Dauntless cake. I'm pretty sure you eat really fast. So...maybe I'm not _that _fast. But I _can _do what I said I could. I will spread the fears."

Big E contemplates. "Well...you sound sincere enough. I guess we do it. Yo, T. How much we got?"

"About 500," Tori replies. "Is that enough for you, you filthy scavenger, you-"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa,_" Big E says, stopping Tori before can go any further. "No need to get feisty."

"Yeah, it should be fine," Uriah says, trying to be nonchalant, and failing miserably. "So, could I have names, please?"

"I'm T," Tori says. "This is Big E."

"We should go now," Tris whispers to me. "Uriah'll be expecting help. Shauna, Lynn and Marlene are already waiting outside."

I nod, and tell Zeke the plan while Tris spills it to Christina. Quickly, quietly, the four of us neglect our table and tiptoe our way to the fear landscape room. I switch off the tablet and we turn to listening at the door- including Shauna, Lynn and Marlene, the three girls already there.

"-your names," Uriah was saying. "It's a business practise. Know who you're selling to, they always say. Well-"

"WELL, I don't freaking care," Tori growls back.

"It's not my choice," Uriah says. He's a convincing actor. "The policy of trade states that-"

"There IS no _policy of trade, _especially not in Dauntless!" Tori yells. "Don't try to fool me!"

"So me and Tris will storm them," I whisper to the group. "Zeke, Marlene, Shauna, Lynn and Christina- you guys stay outside. For now. We'll holler if we need help." Tris nods.

"I still don't like the arrangement," Lynn grumbles. "But yeah, fine, whatever." Everyone murmurs in assent. I lock eyes with Tris, counting down silently. _Three, two, one...go!  
_

I push open the door handle, me and Tris storming the room. We march in just as Tori is transferring Uriah's payment for the work he is not doing.

I know my priorities. I rush first to the man- Big E. He squirms, but my strength is no match for him. I've got him in a headlock soon enough. Tris and Uriah have attacked Tori- I can hear her muffled yells as they overpower her.

"What- Is- Happening-" Tori says, her stifled voice says.

"We've got you, that's what's happening," Tris growls. "I _trusted _you. I TRUSTED YOU!"

"Let-me-explain," Tori's suppressed voice says, but Tris just holds onAppreto her even tighter. Meanwhile, my hostage cannot stop trying to break free.

"Listen here, _buddy," _I growl. "No moving. No escaping. No tricks. Just tell me who you are."

He looks up at me. His hood covers most of his head and face, and the only things I can see are his bruised eyes, riddled with piercings. "I'll-never-surrender," his strangled voice chokes out. "Never, and-never-to-you-Four."

I am slightly taken aback by his words. I knew this guy hated me, I just never fully realised the meaning of it- it never really sunk in. "Well, you _are, _like it or not. Unless you'd rather die, or be factionless."

"I'd-rather-do-anything-than-surrender-to-you," he gags. Suddenly, it's as if all the energy has been injected into him. He lifts his head, and his eyes fill with malice. "GUARDS!"

I hear footsteps rushing towards us. I again lock eyes with Tris, and I know we're thinking the same thing. _Oh god, we're screwed. _

* * *

AT THE LAST MOMENT, I remember the others- Christina, Lynn, Marlene, Zeke and Shauna. How I could've ever forgotten them I don't know. Then I hear Marlene's grunt from outside, Lynn's yell of defiance and Zeke's foot connecting with someone else, and I know they've engaged the guards in combat. I smile. Who am I kidding? They're Dauntless. And they're not idiots.

Apparently, the others in the room have deduced the same thing. Big E's eyes are full of fear, all the energy drained out of him again. Tori somehow brightens, as if her guards being engaged in combat was the best thing ever. Tris smiles with her eyes- how she does it, I will never know, especially since she is someone who smiles so powerfully with her eyes. But I can _see_ it. Uriah doesn't even bother to hide his happiness, even in his eyes- he's grinning so widely it's a miracle his face is still sticking together. It's a beautiful sight- our side all smiles, their side fearful.

"Argh!" Christina yells, and I hear a fist connecting- I assume it's Christina's. I'm almost tempted to go out and help, even though they clearly don't need it (I suppose my Abnegtion instincts haven't quite left me completely), but Big E and Tori might escape, and I know that the most important thing is to make sure they don't.

I decide to make use of the time they bought for us- I try to maintain the headlock with one hand, so I can use the other hand to pull off my hostage's hoodie, but the lock becomes too weak, and I am forced to change my hold back to two hands. "Hey, can someone help me?" I grunt to Tris and Uriah.

Uriah locks eyes with Tris, asking a silent message I understand- "Can you handle Tori yourself if I go help Four?" Tris nods confidently, and tightens her grip. "You're not going anywhere, you little-"

"Let's keep it clean," Tori's muffled voice says. Tris rolls her eyes as Uriah walks over.

"Take his hoodie off," I tell him. He nods, but Big E squirms, keeps rearanging the angle of his head so Uriah can barely grab a hold of him.

I tighten my hold around his neck. "Stay still, punk, or I'm going to do something a lot worse than choke you." I surprise myself- I hardly use the word _punk_, and am not a fan of threats, especially empty ones, which was what this one was. Nevertheless, it works. He stops moving around, and Uriah pulls the hood off.

* * *

THE END?

Nah, just kidding, I'm not that cruel.

* * *

It's just as I suspect.

It's Eric.

He tiredly smiles cruelly. "Hello, Four," he says, his voice back to normal. "Come to join the party?"

"Tris-please-" Tori gasps through her lock. "Let me-explain-it-wasn't-my-fault-"

"How can I trust anything you're saying?" Tris says, her voice hard but full of hurt. "And why are you trying to wriggle your way out of this? All the evidence shows that you're involved. There's no point trying to deny it."

"Just-ask-Eric-" she says.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" I spit at him.

He glares at me. "The mighty Four. First place in initiation. Only four fears. Turning down the leader job, and at this point I might ask myself what is wrong with _you? _Butback to the point. You always win Capure the Flag. You helped the Stiff- don't think I didn't notice. And...the final straw. I know you were observing my fears. You and your Stiff girlfriend." He nods towards Tris with a disgusted look.

"And in return, you tried to spread my weaknesses all over the compound," I say to him in disgust. "Because you keep losing to me. Sore loser much? Well, get ready to lose one more time- oh wait, you already did. Your greatest plan has failed...at my hand."

"But it has already succeeded!" Eric proclaims. He nods towards Uriah. "The boy- he says he'll help spread the fears."

"Dude, I just helped take down your little partner, and unveiled you," Uriah laughs. "Do you really think I'm on your side?"

Eric hesitates, and at that moment, I realise- he's desperate. He knows just as well as I do that Uriah is against him, is on our side- but he's clinging on the that desperate, naive hope that he's wrong. Anger makes me reckless, makes me cruel- I decide to crush his last hope.

"He's on our side, fool," I snarl. The vague hope in Eric's eyes dims at once.

"So you were just going to take our money?" he demands.

Uriah shrugs. "Pretty much, yeah." He glares at me and Tris. "If you guys had just staged your great invasion a few seconds later, I'd have 500 extra-"

"Oh, well I'm _sorry_," I say sarcastically. "Maybe next time you should tell us exactly when we should do our part, and we'll know how many seconds later we have to stage our 'great invasion'."

"Enough!" Tori yells. She turns pleadingly to Tris. "Tris, please...I told you about Divergents. You _trust _me. Please, give me a chance to explain."

"I trust_ed _you," she growls back. "And you get no chance, don't be stupid! Everything I've seen, everything I've heard! It all points to you being part of this thing. And _against _us, not with us."

"Please, I'm begging you," she pleads. "It- it isn't my fault, please, it was Eri-"

"DON'T BLAME THIS ON ME!" Eric shouts. "You were the one who _chose _to follow my orders! You could've-"

"Both of you are guilty," I snap. "Now." I nod to Tris. In unison, we bring back our arms and swing. Tori and Eric crumple. "Guys!" I call. Christina, Lynn, Marlene, Zeke and Shauna troop in. As they open the door, I have a full view of bodies of the guards on the ground. I smile again. They are Dauntless and have amazing fighting skills. How could I ever underestimate them?

"Now, what do we do with them?" Christina asks, looking at the limp bodies of Eric and Tori. "Wait...is that..."

No explanation is required- they can all see the features, the body, the piercings that make Eric, Eric. Finally, Marlene just folds her arms.

"I don't know why we're so surprised," she says. "We all knew this was coming."

Lynn too then comes out of her shock. "Yeah...everyone knew of Eric's hatred of you, and the lengths he'd go to get what he wants. What's so different about this?"

"I still can't believe that Tori..." Shauna says, looking at Tori and shaking her head. "I just would have never believed it of her."

"Well, she kept trying to plead her innocence," Tris says grimly. Seeing the look in the others' faces, she quickly adds, "I didn't believe her, of course. All evidence points to her guilt."

"True," Christina says, nodding. "So...as Lynn asked, what do we do?"

Zeke, who had been unnaturally quiet until now, speaks up. "It's obvious, isn't it? It's like that old saying goes- 'To beat a hacker, you need a hacker.' To beat this guy, we need to do to him, what he did to you. We need to spread his fears."

"Wouldn't that be sinking to his level, though?" Marlene asks. "Do we really need to do that? I mean, isn't there another way-"

"No!" Zeke shouts, interrupting Marlene. Everyone stares at him, suprised at his aggressiveness. He recoils. "Sorry...it's just that...they threatened to make Four appear weak to the entire Dauntless. I just-"

"No, man, it's fine," I say. I had no idea that Zeke cared this much- it's sort of touching, actually. But we had known each other a long time, become close friends. It would be natural- I care for him too. "It would be fun but..."

"I don't know, I think we should do it," Christina says, folding her arms. "Give Eric a taste of his own medicine. Maybe he'll just stop with all this nonsense about trying to...outdo you or whatever."

"And we can't exactly kill him," Lynn says. "On the other hand, we can't let him go. Never. I'm going for Zeke's idea."

"Same," Christina agrees.

"Okay, I agree with you guys too. We need to stop him, and not to mention make him pay for what he did to To-uh, Four," Tris says. I raise my eyebrows- I hadn't expected Tris to agree with them on this as well.

"Let's just take a vote," I quickly say, before arguing breaks out. "Those in favour of spreading Eric's fears?"

Christina, Zeke, Tris and Lynn raise their hands.

Shrugging, I raise my hand too, and so does Uriah.

Uriah laughs as he wraps his arm around Marlene's shoulders. "Sorry, Mar, outnumbered!" She huffs and pushes his arm off.

"Fine, if you guys want to sink to his level-"

"Okay, you know what?" I interrupt. "How about we decide this tomorrow. It's been a long day. For now...we'll just leave them here."

Tris nods. "Good idea, Four. Come on." She walks towards the door, motioning for us to join her. We all walk there- and I don't forget to lock the door. I grab a piece of paper and scribble on it, _FL Room out of service today_, and stick it to the door.

That's all I need to do for today. Before I can deal with the stress of what happened, I head to my apartment and take a long nap.

**THE END! **

**And I just wanted to say, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! And may it be a good year:D**

**I'm not even going to give an excuse for not updating for so long- sorry is all I'm saying. I guess I'll just accept that I'm one of those authors that doesn't update. Like, after a really long time. Anyways, sorry. **

**Hope you liked the really long chapter:) So, he's finally caught, huh? What now? The ending of the Spreading-Four's-Fears investigation might be nearly over, but the story's not, so stay tuned;)**

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**But as I said before, enjoy the story! See you next chapter.**

**-Blacksilver17**


	9. Chapter 9

_Tris' POV_

We finally got Eric. Everyone is happy, celebrating, pouring their cups of wine, partying down at the Pit. Well, that is, except for Tobias, who passed out right when he got to his apartment. I'm not even remotely tired. If anything, I feel even more charged than usual. I should be partying with Christina, Uriah, everyone else. But I just feel a sort of emptiness.

Why?

I'd been worried for Tobias for so long. Someone in his position was sure to have enemies. That much is true for everyone in his situation. I just never realised how realistic that could be I guess, that someone could actually want to hurt him. It had sunk in with me intellectually a long time ago, but sometime during this situation it finally sunk into me. He wasn't exactly safe. Eric actually wanted to expose him; to break him in front of the entire Dauntless compound. And he wasn't going to be the only one. There were going to be tons of people who were jealous, insecure. Tobias was always, always going to be in danger of that. Just because we caught one didn't mean we always could protect him.

I sigh. Life is great, but at the same time it also really, really sucked.

I decide that the only thing that would help me calm down is to throw some punches, and what better way for me to do that without hurting anyone than at the training room? I haven't been there for ages, since I was an initiate, really. It tastes of my worst memories- countless beatings by Peter, Tobias (or Four, as he was known to me then) leaving the room halfway through the fight, Christina being sentenced to hanging off the chasm- but also of my best victories, like beating Molly. The scent is familiar. Sweat, peppermint, the desperation of initiates trying to climb to the top of their class.

I stretch a bit before throwing some punches. I experiment with different stances, different ranges of punches, different levels of strength, when a voice that materialises out of nowhere says, "I think you're getting better, Tris."

I whirl around, hands still in punching position. Uriah stands in front of me, hands raised playfully in surrender. "Whoa, Tris. Chill a little. I came here to practice too, before I realised the room was taken." I roll my eyes. Of course it'd be Uriah. At the same time, I'm kind of relieved it is.

"How long have you been watching me?" I ask suspiciously.

He shrugs. "Not long. I announced my presence after like, 15 minutes. That's pretty short, right?" I glare at him as he laughs.

"Uriah!" I scold. Between laughs, he rushes to assure me that he was joking- that it'd been only been a couple of seconds before he'd called himself to my attention. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Didn't feel like partying. I dunno, it just felt...wrong. So I came down here, thinking that it'd be the only empty, quiet place in the compound. Evidently, I was wrong. So, Trissy, what are you up to?"

I hesitate. I wasn't planning on telling anyone my thoughts, but this was Uriah. I trusted him. "A lot of thoughts. Needed something to calm me." I then proceed to tell him all about my worries for Tobias.

He nods slowly- after all, he is friends with Tobias too, and is bound to care for him too. "I think you're right in that he'll have enemies. But I also think he's pretty damn tough. And he has a pretty great bunch of friends." He smiles. "I don't think there's anything we can do, except be there for him. He is great, and deserves to have all the power and respect he has."

I grin, Uriah always knows how to make me feel better. "Now that is true," I laugh as the two of us walk out.

* * *

We meet Tobias at his apartment. I knock three times, and he opens on the third. "Hey Tris, Uriah," he says with a tired smile. "How are you?"

I tilt my head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says, clearly not fine. "Why don't I meet you two in five minutes at the Pit? I have to take a shower first. I stink."

Something is obviously wrong. Uriah senses it too.

"You sure, man? I could always call Zeke over if you want-" he starts but Tobias stops him.

"No that's fine. I'm sure Zeke is really tired, between this Eric thing and his regular job at surveillance. I wouldn't want to bother him over nothing."

"Alright then. See you in five."

Uriah and I close the door and walk towards the Pit. "You sensed it too?" I ask him.

He nods, saying, "Something's not right. He looks tired, which he never is after taking one heck of a nap. He keeps saying he's okay. Which he clearly is _not_. We need to cheer him up." He lights up. "What did the clock do when it was hungry?"

I roll my eyes; I remember Uriah's 'pun' phase, and it was so ridiculous it had to be put to a stop before it got too out of hand. Unfortunately, his arsenal of jokes is still intact. "What?"

"It went back..._four seconds_!" he laughs, making the 'Ba dum tsss' sound effect after that, while I just groan.

"Jeez, that was bad," I laugh, face palming. "More."

"Oh, well if you insist," he smiles evilly. I suddenly regret my decision. "What do you call a fake noodle?"

"What?" I laugh.

"An _impasta_!" he yells, attracting the attention of some nearby Dauntless, who don't give him a second look. I roll my eyes again.

"You're awful," I sigh.

"You love me," he grins, flashing his teeth. I laugh. Uriah always knows how to make me feel better.

* * *

Five minutes later, I see Tobias walking towards us. The rushing water blocks the sound of his shouts, but I run towards him anyway, embracing him. He looks like he could use a hug.

"Hey," I greet him. He smiles.

"Hey, Tris," he replies. "Uriah."

"Hi."

"So I was thinking, we've caught Eric, but what do we do now?" Tobias suddenly says. "I mean, obviously he's not going to be the only one to try to take me down. There are a _lot _of corrupt people in this world. So how are we going to set an example? Are we even going to tell anyone? Or just keep it as blackmail? Would they even believe us?"

A stream of emotions gushes out of him. I don't really know how to react, except to...what? Feel sorry for him? I know he wouldn't like that. So I just wrap my arms around him, pulling him into an embrace, and he pats my head.

"It's going to be okay, Four," I mutter. "We'll figure it out."

"Well!" Uriah exclaims, clearing his throat. "This is a bit awkward. Why don't you two lovebirds do your thing while I call Mar and the others so we can discuss this?" He walks away, whistling.

"See you!" I yell, as he raises a hand to wave.

Tobias grins at me. "Uriah is pretty cool, don't you think?"

I laugh. "What has gotten _into you_? Since when you ask me if I think people are 'cool'?" He shrugs, pulling me into a kiss. How can I protest against that?

We are still making out when Uriah is guiding Marlene, Christina, Zeke, Lynn, Will and Shauna towards us. We quickly pull away as Christina wolf-whistles and Zeke starts shouting, "Ooooooh" loud enough for the whole Pit to hear. Don't we have mature friends.

"Hi guys." Tris greets them, her face slightly red. She begins explaining the problem. After she's done, everyone has mixed opinions.

"I think we should tell everyone," Zeke says, crossing his arms. "What's the good in keeping it secret? If we keep it secret, no one will know what happens to people who mess with the Dauntless Gang." He smirks.

"Oh, so are we the Dauntless Gang now?" Shauna laughs. "You do realise everyone here is..Dauntless."

Zeke rolls his eyes. "The..what do you want to call us? The Dauntless Level Two Gang? The Sunglasses Gang? The Tattoo Gang? The Ladder Gang? **(Anyone from the ****Phandom? Ayy) **The Cool Kids?" he laughs.

"Oh, we are totally the Cool Kids," Uriah laughs, rolling his eyes, and pulling a really sarcastic smile with the squinty eyes and fake smile. "WE ARE TOTES COOLIES." Everyone laughs, except Zeke, who fake pouts.

"My point is that there's no point in keeping it to ourselves, because then everyone will think it's okay to mess with you, and it's going to happen again, and again, and again, and one day we won't be able to stop them, and then..." He trails off, not wanting to say the unspoken words; Four would be broken.

"But _blackmail against Eric_," Lynn says, grinning evilly. "I don't know about you, but I've been waiting for this opportunity for a _very long time_."

"Yeah, I mean- think about it. We could basically corrupt the government," Marlene exclaims, her eyes sparkling. "We can get Eric to do whatever the hell we want and he'd have to do it! This is pretty great."

"But guys, think about what Zeke said," Shauna interjects. "What if others try to bring Four down? If we don't set an example, everyone's going to think it's okay. Which it _absolutely is not._"

"Let's not forget about Tori!" Christina yells. Besides Tobias and I, she is probably the one who feels Tori's betrayal the most. "She _betrayed _us. That might even be worse. She was leaking our plans."

"Yes, but she did say it wasn't her fault, that none of it was her idea," Will interjects. "Which I personally think is complete BS, but it is a piece of evidence."

"Oooooh, Will swore," Uriah teases. "You said 'BS'!"

"Shut up," he says, rolling his eyes. "It's an acronym. I didn't swear, you idiot."

"Whatever, smarty-pants."

"So what are we going to do about her?" Christina interrupts. "She is definitely not getting off without a punishment."

"Of course not!" I exclaim. "I trusted her. She taught me everything I know. How am I supposed to know what was real and what was her trying to manipulate me? She is definitely not getting off easy. In which case, we could blackmail her too."

"Or we could blackmail one, and expose the other one," Will says. "Preferably if we were to use this method, it would make more sense to expose Tori, and blackmail Eric, because he has more political power, while Tori is good for showing that no one, even a tattoo artist, will get off easy."

"That is a really good idea," Tobias tells him, nodding in approval.

"Thanks," Will replies absentmindedly, lacing his fingers with Christina's. "How are we going to expose Tori, though? Also, should we even give her a chance to explain herself? You know, fair trial and all that."

"I think she's a punk b*tch that should be given zero chances," Lynn states, crossing her arms. "But if you want to stick with your puny ideas of 'justice' and 'fairness' then by all means go ahead. But remember that she wasn't just or fair towards us, so there is no reason to be just and fair to her."

"Don't fight fire with fire, Lynn," I scold her. She laughs.

"I can see you're still a Stiff at heart," she points out. I just laugh; I don't take this as an insult anymore, but then again, she doesn't mean it as an insult either.

* * *

We discuss it for about 3 more hours, which feel more like 3 minutes, with all the witty banter and corny puns Uriah throws in. I really do love my friends.

In the end, we decide on interrogating/giving a trial to the two offenders tomorrow, and if everything is as expected, we'll get the attention of all the Dauntless, and expose Tori; totally ruin her reputation here. Case closed. As for Eric, we'll let him know the blackmail plan- if he disagrees, we'll just expose him straightaway. Easy. Nothing could go wrong.

**the end**

**i feel like I don't say this enough, so thank you for 3k views, and special thanks to all of you who review, follow and favourite. i love you all. **

**sorry i haven't uploaded in 50 billion years**

**bye x**


	10. Chapter 10

_Tobias' POV_

The next day we head over to the room we are keeping Eric and Tori. This is the day we are having their official trial, even though none of us hold any real position of authority. We decided that for today, we won't need the whole crowd- so only me, Tris, Christina and Will head over to 'interrogation'.

I lead the way, and when we reach the door, I look behind me at the others again. Tris looks so determined I'm scared of her expression, her eyebrows creased and her lips pursed. The fury in her eyes is unmistakable next to her tightly-pulled back blond hair.

Christina looks somewhat similar in expression, but also completely different. Her blond hair hangs loose, and she's gripping her boyfriend's hand tightly. Her face is more expectant than fierce, as if nothing that Tori and Eric could say would change her mind. Will is relaxed, his hair flopping in his face as usual, holding Christina's hand. He nods at me, acknowledging my look. I turn forward and open the door.

Tori and Eric are bound and gagged to their chairs, and I grin. I told Zeke to make sure they didn't get out, and the knots are tied so tightly it would take a solid 5 minutes to cut through them. Tori immediately starts trying to talk, which of course is indecipherable since her gag is well in place. Eric takes one glance at us and just rolls his eyes, looking away.

I hold up my pair of scissors and cut away their gags. Tori immediately starts, "IT WASN'T MY FAULT, IT WASN'T MY IDEA, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE GIVE ME MERCY FOUR, AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN-"

"SHUT UP!" Christina yells, and she immediately shuts up. Eric, however is the exact opposite, and refuses to say anything. I ignore both him and Tori, and stand in front of the room, starting to speak.

"This is an interrogation. Since we are such kind-hearted, just people," I stop, and grin sickeningly sweetly. "We have decided to give you this one- JUST ONE- chance to explain yourselves, if you have an explanation. I know you, Tori, in particular, would like this opportunity. You seem _very _eager to explain yourself, so I'll let you go first."

She looks at me with some degree of relief and gratitude. "Okay. It started about a week before you first came to me with the issue. A hooded figure, whom I didn't know the identity of back then, came into my tattoo shop very early in the morning, and asked for a full body tattoo of all the animals in the world **(by this time in the future, they did not have much knowledge of many animals since many had gone extinct, and they wouldn't have seen many anyway, being contained) **and so, of course, I complied. As I drew the animals in ink, he began telling me a story of himself, a man that always came in second to one of his peers, and even in adulthood, only getting his dream job as a second choice. He began telling me of the revenge he was plotting. My heart warmed for him, he looked so sad and his story was so compelling, I understood it on a more personal level, and I promised to help; see, at this time, I had no idea who the person involved was, or even who this man was. Which was pretty stupid of me, agreeing to help a complete stranger. After I finished doing his tattoos, he slowly took off the hood, and revealed his identity. Then he pointed a gun to my head, and told me that I had _promised _and I wasn't about to get out of this." She takes a deep breath as tears start dripping down her face. "I'm so sorry, Four, I'm so sorry Tris, you trusted me and I let you two down. Badly. I was just...afraid. I don't deserve to be in Dauntless. I don't deserve you forgiveness, but I hope I'll get it anyway."

Holy.

Well, that is a _lot _to take in. I feel my anger at Tori ebb away. It isn't her fault, she's just another kind person that was suckered into the wrong deal because of her kindness. Still..

"Why didn't you tell us anything? We could've helped you," I tell her, confusion tinging my voice.

"He...he said if I told anyone anything, he'd know, and he'd kill me, and make it look like an accident." Tori's voice cracks. "I was a freaking coward. Eric is nothing more than a bully. And I _cannot _believe I didn't stand up to him." She glares at Eric, who is still looking away at the window and pretending not to listen.

Tris' voice softens as she says, "So it wasn't your fault at all." Tori looks at her pleadingly, shaking her head.

"I don't buy it," Will suddenly pipes in. "Cool motive. Still a crime."

"Oh, come on, Will," Tori sighs. "I'm telling the truth. Tell them, Eric." Eric doesn't react, except to spit at her feet. Tori just rolls her eyes, and looks at us as if to say, 'Why would I _voluntarily _work with someone like that?'

"What do you think, Tris?" I ask her softly. She looks at me, and points at the door. I nod, and the two of us walk outside, signalling to Christina and Will that we'd be back in five minutes.

"I feel really bad now," she says, as soon as I shut the door. "She was unwillingly forced into a situation she had no idea was going to turn out like this, and she was pressured into cooperating, and she was too scared to tell anyone. Trust me, I've been in this type of situation before, and it's not easy, and it's definitely not her fault."

"But at the same time, do you feel like you can ever trust her again? I don't want to..expose her in front of all the Dauntless now, make her such a hated figure, but I don't really want anything to do with her either," I tell her.

She looks relieved. "Good. I feel exactly the same way." She smiles, and I think about how much I love her. God, I love her. I live for these moments that we are perfectly in sync, and it feels like nothing can ever come between us.

I open the door slightly, and motion for Christina and Will to come outside with us. They follow, and Tris tells them the plan.

"I agree with the fact that we definitely can't trust her anymore, but what do we do about setting an example for everyone?" Christina asks. It only takes a moment of thought to come up with a solution.

"We expose the real mastermind. Eric," I say with conviction. "Who needs blackmail, anyway? Why do we need power over the government? Even if we did, we shouldn't use blackmail and corruption to get it, or else how are we better than them?"

"That is true," Tris smiles.

"So it's decided? We kick Tori out of our group, but don't expose her, and instead expose Eric?" Will asks professionally. We all nod. "In that case, let's go back in there, and tell them."

We walk in, and Eric immediately pulls a look of disgust at me. Just for good measure, I ask him, "Do you want to add anything, Eric? Prove your side of the story?"

He sneers. "It's pretty simple. I was sick of you. I was sick of coming second. I have tried _so hard _to go about this the honest way, to beat you fairly, but obviously that didn't work." He scoffs. "So I had to turn to the dirty tricks. The one point of vulnerability everyone has is their fears. All powerful 'Four', the guy everyone thinks is invincible...well, if my plan had worked, no one would've thought that anymore. They would know you for what you are. So there you go. You beat me again." He rolls his eyes, the piercings in his eyelids fluttering. "Go ahead. Expose me. Make me a mocked figure of the entire faction. I give up anyway."

I look stunned. I almost don't want to expose him anymore, but then Tris sneers, "Go to hell," and I'm shocked back to reality. Christina spits at his feet. Eric doesn't look the least bit fazed, continuing to ignore us the way he did when we first entered. I remember all the bad things he's done. The horrible person he actually is. And as Will said, 'Cool motive. Still a crime.'

"We have reached a verdict, actually," Tris says cooly. "Tori, we aren't going to expose you, but I'm just going to let you know that you aren't welcome to hang out with us, or talk to us, or even associate yourself with us. You may have been our friend, and we realise none of this is your fault, but I don't think any of us can ever trust you again.

And as for you, Eric, you're completely right. We are going to expose you. So say goodbye to life as you know it, and welcome the new life of a hated convict. Trust me, I know the feeling, and it's not pretty," she says, smiling. Of course. All Divergents know life as a convict.

Suddenly, we hear a loud scream. All 6 of our heads turn towards the door. "It came from the chasm," Tori says with a certain tint of certainty. "We have to go see what it was."

"No, _we'll _go see what it was," Christina says in a voice that is filled with disgust for her. She clearly doesn't forgive her. "You two can just stay here like good little convicts. We might let you know what we find."

Eric just rolls his eyes as we run out the door, while Tori's face is full of dismay.

The speed of us four Dauntless makes it easy to get to places quick, and even though we are at the opposite end of the compound to the chasm, we make it there sweaty and out of breath in five minutes. A whole group of people is already gathered there, watching the body being pulled out of the water by a large machine.

"Who is that?" Tris asks, her voice quiet.

* * *

**the end. hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to ****favourite, follow and review. and thank you for 4k! i love you all x**


	11. Chapter 11

_Tobias' POV_

I don't recognise the body, but they tell us that her name was Jessica Fallow, and that it was a suicide. "We will pray for her," Max says to the Dauntless compound, assembled at the chasm, in mourning for her. "We will recognise the beauty of a life fully lived. We will celebrate Jessica. Hip hip-"

"Hooray!" the Dauntless cheer.

"Hip hip-"

"Hooray!"

I walk out, and into the Fear Landscape room. I can't stand the fact that they're _cheering _her death. What is there to cheer about a girl so miserable with her life she ended it?

Am I really surprised when I find Tris already there, setting up for her fear landscape? I wonder how many fears she has been forced to eradicate because of this sick programme. She doesn't seem to notice me, even though I opened the door quite loudly, so I say her name. "_Tris_."

Her head snaps up. "Oh, hey Tobias. When did you get here?" she starts giggling randomly.

Confused, I say, "Uh, just now. Tris, you okay?"

She continues giggling like a little girl. "Oh, I'm fine, Foury."

"You never call me Foury. And please never do so again."

"Hehehe. Okay. Hey To-to, why do you cut your hair like that? Don't you think it would look beautiful long? That way you could put it in a ponytail, or braid it, or bun it, or..." she laughs. "I don't know, whatever you want."

Something. Is not right.

Clearly Tris took some sort of serum, whether purposely or accidentally, and now she's acting like a freaking 5 year old. There is only one serum that can do this to her, the one serum she can't resist.

"Where'd you get the peace serum?" I demand, glaring at her. I glance around the room and see an empty vial of liquid on the table. I pick it up and shove it accusingly in her face.

She pouts. "You're not very nice. You shouldn't shove vials into my face."

I roll my eyes. "Jesus Christ," I mutter as I lift her over my shoulder. "Second time I've had to do this. It's not getting any more fun, Tris, just so you know. You might want to stop taking this stuff. It's not very good for my back."

* * *

An hour later, she is back to normal. I find her sitting up straight on her bed, glaring at the wall, as if all the shit that has happened is because of it. I tiptoe to her. "Are you alright?"

She is silent. "Why do I do this to myself?" she whispers. "Why can't I find a way to be happy without chemicals? Am I really that pathetic?"

My heart aches. "No, Tris. Of course not. You're an amazing person. You're just an amazing person who has had bad things happen to you, and that sometimes makes it hard to be happy. But all you have to do is be patient and wait for the happy moments."

With a weak smile, she replies, "Yeah I guess so. Thanks Tobias." She gives me a small kiss, one not filled with passion but with sweetness and love. One that says she is thankful for me. "Just out of curiosity, what did I say when I was on the serum?"

"Are you really sure you want to know this?" I laugh as she nods earnestly. "Well, for starters, you called me 'Foury' and 'To-to'. Secondly, you suggested I grow my hair long to tie it in a ponytail." Tris starts laughing, slowly but surely, from soft giggles to downright roaring with laughter. "Next, you told me I wasn't very nice for shoving a vial in your face." At this point, even I'm laughing. "And you couldn't. Stop. GIGGLING!"

She is rolling over on the bed, howling with laughter. At some point, she grabs her stomach and yells, "MY STOMACH!" before continuing to laugh. I just shake my head as I smile. When she is finally done, for good, she smiles at me and says earnestly, "I really am freaking ridiculous on that serum...To-to."

"For god's sake, never use that name again," I groan. "And come on. I think we have a new investigation on our hands."

* * *

I actually know the security guard that's on duty, and I'm pretty good friends with him, so when I ask him if there is a suicide note and may we please see it, he gives me a picture of it without hesitation. I thank him profusely as Tris and I sit down to read it.

"Here goes," I say, scanning my eyes over the page.

_"Dear Dauntless, this is my last resort. I have messages for specific people: _

_Leila. My best friend and sister. Thank you so much for being there for me. I'm sorry I left you alone. _

_Momma. I'm sorry for being a really bratty daughter. I wish I could be the daughter you deserve. _

_To the Dauntless heads and authority. You're a sick bunch of people, forcing people to go through this psycho programme of yours. See you in hell. _

_I'm sorry for doing this. But if I had to go through ONE MORE of that stupid Fear Landscape, and ended up becoming 'fearless', I would literally throw up. And die. So I guess I'm just delaying the inevitable,_

_Dauntless authority, please know what you're doing to your people. It is impossible to be fearless, and that isn't the point of Dauntless. I joined this faction because of the ideals it's meant to stand for. I don't know under what twisted logic you're operating under, but let me tell you that this is not right._

_Jess."_

"That's it," I tell her, after reading the page. "She literally killed herself because she didn't want to go through another FL. This programme really breaks some people, doesn't it?"

She nods, as if she understands something much deeper than what I just said. "We have to find a way to stop it. She's definitely not going to be the only one that jumps."

* * *

Over the next week, 3 more people jump, all giving the same reason for jumping. Tris and I gather all the others, and it's like we're the crime busters. Our new case is figuring out a way to shut down the Becoming Fearless, because Jessica was right. It is impossible to become fearless. Fear is what makes us human. A little bit of fear is healthy. It stops us from doing stupid things.

"That is messed up," Uriah says, after I explain everything to the group; the notes, the people, the fear landscapes.

"Yeah, thank you Captain Obvious," his brother retorts, rolling his eyes. "But why only now are people jumping? This thing has been going on for _weeks_. We go so long without any deaths. Why this week, we suddenly have four jumpings?"

Will clears his throat, and I know he's going to have his Erudite moment. "Statistically, people experience the impact of the continuous confrontation of their fears, around four weeks after. This is when the brain kicks in, as if for the first four weeks they weren't fully conscious of what was happening, but suddenly the brain woke up and went, 'Holy shit, what has been happening.' and the person goes mad and hurls themselves off the chasm." Of course, as I predicted, Will has the answer to Zeke's question. Christina looks at her boyfriend in both admiration and confusion.

"Then why aren't we, and the others, not hurling ourselves off the chasm?" she asks.

"Well, different people have different response times. Some are fast, some are slow. But all of us have our breaking points. We don't all show it by killing ourselves; maybe for some, it's beating up the people responsible. Or hurting innocents. Or breaking the rules. Whatever, but it's there. Maybe some of us are already in that stage, but no one else can tell. But there will definitely be more, and I think we should stop this before it gets out of hand and half the population of Dauntless is dead."

Shouts of agreement can be heard. "Ditto!" "Amen!" "True!" "Agreed!"

"The only question," Lynn states. "Is how."

"Go up to the authorities themselves?" Marlene suggests. "Four, you could use your power, and persuade them or something. Use your dad's name. Scare them. Whatever it takes."

I turn pale. Never, if it depended on my life, would I use my father's name to get what I want. The last thing I want is for people to think I like the connection between my dad and I . "Um, maybe that could be our backup."

She frowns. "Alright then."

"We could just blow up all the equipment," Uriah laughs. "What'd they do then?"

Marlene slaps his arm. "They'd order more from the Erudite, you idiot."

"Oh. Oh right."

"I ship them so hard," Christina mutters to Tris, who nods.

Suddenly, we hear another scream from the chasm. Our heads all automatically turn towards the direction it came from, but none of us are too bothered. Jumps are considered pretty normal nowadays. All it does is prove our point about needing to complete our mission fast.

"Should we go see what happened?" Shauna says, getting up. There is a mixture of yeses, no's, maybes, shrugs, snorts and "there's no point"s, but I'm the only one that gives a proper answer.

"You can go if you want to, but I honestly don't think there is a point. After all, all you're going to get is another dead body." Nodding, she sits back down, and we continue our discussion for about another 2 hours. With no real useful ideas, I decide to head to bed. It's been a long day, and I need to sleep.

* * *

The next day, Tris looks positively shaken up. When I ask her what happened, she just shakes her head and says she'll tell everyone, including me, later. I assume this means it involves the whole group, and is therefore important. So later when we all meet up, I ask her to spill. Immediately.

"I was kidnapped last night," she says casually. As if being _kidnapped _is a normal practise? Last time she was kidnapped, I had to rescue her from being thrown into the chasm and killed. I just stare at her in shock.

"Um, what?" Christina asks, obviously in equal shock.

Tris laughs. "Don't worry, it was nothing scary. They didn't hurt me or anything. They kidnapped me, blindfolded me and brought me to the Fear Landscape room. Then they introduced themselves as the Fearful. It's not very intimidating or anything, but it does prove their point. They're a rebel group dedicated to fighting against the Becoming Fearless programme. They were trying to recruit me."

I just continue to stare at her in shock. While I was peacefully sleeping, my girlfriend got kidnapped and recruited to a rebel group. Well, she sure was a catch.

"And...what did you say?" Lynn asks her. I can tell even she's impressed, and it takes quite a bit to impress her.

She smiles as she replies, "I said I'd only enter if they allowed all of you to come too."

Christina immediately engulfs her in a hug. "Aw, Trissy..I didn't know we meant that much to you."

She pushes Christina off her. "Well, _you _don't. The rest of them do." She winks as Christina pretends to be offended. "So what do you say?"

"I think it's a good idea," Marlene says, and Lynn states her agreement, as do Shauna and Christina. Uriah and Zeke however...

"Oh for god's sake, what could go wrong?" Lynn snaps at the two of them, after a solid 10 minutes of them protesting.

"Um, we get caught and all of us go to prison or killed?" Zeke snaps back, Uriah nodding his head in agreement.

"And besides, we don't need them, a _rebel _group called the 'Fearful'. Please. Such a big joke," Uriah laughs, shaking his head.

Marlene puts a hand on him. "Please, Uri. This is our only chance to join up with them. Safety in numbers, right?" Uriah looks at her, and I can tell he's about to cave, but Marlene doesn't seem to think he's convinced. "Please, for me?"

"Oh, alright," he murmurs and the rest of us cheer.

"Zeke?" Shauna asks softly.

"THE GIRLFRIEND TRICK IS _NOT _GOING TO WORK ON ME, UNLIKE MY PANSYCAKE LITTLE BROTHER!" he yells, and walks out the door. Or at least, tries to. He forgets to actually open it, and ends up hitting his head. "Oh Jesus. I'm a mess. And if you're all going to join up, I'll be alone anyway. We're all in this together," he sings sarcastically. "Alright then, I'm in."

"Four? You're in, right?" Tris asks for confirmation. I nod.

"Of course."

"Let's do it, then."

**the end! ****hope you're having a good day or night, wherever you are x**

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	12. Chapter 12

_Tris' POV_

Of course, I knew they'd agree, but I'm relieved all the same. After the meeting, I head over to the Fear Landscape room, which I haven't done in ages. I've probably missed about 20 sessions, no joke, the whole time we were trying to find Tobias' enemy. Which is unacceptable, of course, but the Dauntless authority won't punish you as long as you pay back those sessions by the end of the month. To be honest, I don't really care what the Dauntless authority thinks, considering how corrupt they are, but they _are _still my superiors technically and have the right to punish me.

There is no one there, so I clock myself in and open up the necessary programmes. I've been through this process so many times it's almost like second nature to me. As I lie down in the chair, I inject myself with the serum, and close my eyes as I enter the world of my mind.

My first fear, I think is the one that won't ever go away. The feeling of helplessness settles in as the crows attack me; I let them invade my privacy, savour every peck and brushing of their beaks, even though I cringe at it all. A scream gets stuck in my throat, and stings as I try to swallow. It is near torture to pretend this isn't bothering me, but I sit there, grin and bear it, try and enjoy it because I know that this is the only way the fear landscape will move on. I finally summon my gun, after not being able to stand it anymore, and shoot as many as I can. I take pleasure in this, and the programme seems to sense this, as it moves on to the next fear, and I'm standing in a glass box, with the water slowly filling up.

I shut my eyes tightly. _You can do this_, I tell myself. _You've been through this a million times. It's no big deal. _I take a deep breath, as the tank fills up, and I go under. I look out; the faces of all the people I love stare back at me, either blankly or to ridicule me. It's horrible. I don't want to take another look at them, but I know I will have to in order to face this fear.

I open my mouth, and take a deep gulp of water. It's surprisingly refreshing, and after a few mouthfuls I decide to end it. My lungs are burning as I press my hand to the glass, and give the tiniest push. A hairline crack makes its way through the surface, and soon enough, it spreads through the entire box. My body screams for oxygen and I take it all in as much as I can because I know what's coming next-

As expected, my muscles are paralysed. This isn't so much because I'm tired or anything, it's because my body is tied to a wooden stake. "Do you smell that, Stiff?" Peter asks me again, in the same monotone. I can barely hear his reply as I scream to the heavens when the first flames lick my feet.

"RAIN!" I screech. I really haven't gotten used to this one, because the fire sears my legs and they _burn like hell. _A drizzle starts to fall, and I cry in relief as the raindrops sizzle on my burnt feet. The fire dies down, and immediately I am transported to the wild ocean, whose currents try to whip me around in all directions, and at all costs. I desperately hang onto a rock which I grabbed a hold of, and I scream for help. Of course, none comes, as I've never really figured out a way to use my Divergence to my advantage for this fear. It's not particularly difficult to survive, just tiring and quite traumatic. But I always swim to the shore, and it's never worked in eradication. I suppose it's not really _facing _the fear if you just run away from it.

So instead, which a huge gulp of air in my lungs, I let go of the rock and let myself be taken by the currents. Miraculously, I manage to dodge all the rocks (although I come particularly close to one which almost hit my head) and, even though my lungs and heart are both _yelling _at me for doing this to them, it's almost liberating to lose control and just go with the flow. It may not always be the right thing, and I guess that is what I'm afraid of. That I'll let myself do something bad for my own pleasure and feel guilty later on. But although there is logic in that, I've only just realised that there is a difference between doing something for pleasure and caring for yourself. I've done so many bad things before that sometimes I feel like I don't deserve self care. But I do. Everyone does.

The landscape fades away to black. I wait for the next fear to appear, but it doesn't. In fact, I slowly see the Fear Landscape room come into focus. I lost the shooting my family fear. I did face it last time, I guess. But as I sit up, I whisper to myself, _Excuse you. The hell are you going to call 'Four' now? You're Four too. You're...the girl with Four fears. _

I'm the girl with four fears.

* * *

I run to Tobias' apartment, where I know he'll be at 3pm. He told me he was taking a nap at 2, so presumably at 3, he'll still be there and hopefully awake. I grab my key and unlock the door, where Tobias is fast asleep. But as soon as I enter the room, his eyes slowly open. "T-Tris?" he mutters sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

"I did my fear landscape again," I start. "And guess who's the new Mrs Four."

He stares at me blankly. "I don't think I'm ready to get married yet," he murmurs. "Maybe in a few years-"

"OH MY GOD YOU IDIOT," I yell at him, laughing. "I didn't mean I wanted to get _married_! I meant that I lost another one of my fears. And now...my number is four."

He breaks out in a grin. "Oh my god, Tris, that's awesome! But I'm afraid you're not actually going to be Mrs Four.." he says, pausing for suspense. "Because I lost one of my fears too. I'm Three now."

This news hits me like a brick- in a good way, of course. I'm so proud of him; I thought those four fears would be within him forever, rooted. But luckily I was wrong. "That's awesome, I'm so proud of you," I smile at him. "Just out of curiosity which one was it?"

"Heights," he replies with a smile. "It was my most irrational fear, I guess, so it makes sense that that was the one I got over." All his other fears have traumatic backstories linked to them, so I guess he's right. "How about you? Which one did you get over?"

"Oh, it was a fear that I would be forced to kill my family by Jeanine," I say, shrugging. "I got over it last time, when I shot myself, so she could never use me again as bait." Seeing his eyes widen, I add, "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that in real life. Kill myself to save my family, when I could just as easily shoot the person who was forcing me to shoot my loved ones."

"Why didn't you then?" he asks questioningly.

"Well, I did last time, but it didn't help me to get over it, so I just tried a different tactic," I shrug.

"Why didn't it work?"

"I don't know. I guess it's trying to teach me a lesson, that self-sacrifice is more powerful than murder, but it's a pretty dumb lesson to apply in that situation to be honest," I roll my eyes. "Speaking of dumb things, this programme cannot be allowed to continue."

"I can't believe they actually succeeded in getting us to get over some of our fears. It's rationally impossible to be fearless. Fear is what makes us human," he replies quietly.

"Lucky we have that rebel group to join," I grin. "Which by the way, the meeting is tonight at the Pit."

"Don't forget to tell the others," he reminds me, as we walk out of the apartment, and I nod. Suddenly we hear another piercing scream, and our heads jerk towards the direction it came from.

The chasm. What a surprise.

I have a strong feeling it's another suicide, and I nearly don't want to go, but Tobias drags me along as we run together to the voice.

"I-I-I just found him there-" the girl who screamed stutters, pointing into the raging waters of the chasm. "I think he jumped..." A group of Dauntless, including ourselves, go to the waters' edge and look. A boy spread-eagle is floating on the surface of the waves, and his head rocks back and forth on a sharp piece of rock. I wince everytime it happens, even though he obviously can't feel it, being dead.

"There's a note!" someone yells, as he picks up a piece of paper stuck to one of the rocks a few metres away from the body. "My name is Mike Stanly, and I have jumped into the chasm as a message to the Dauntless authorities. _Please, stop the Becoming Fearless programme_. It's awful. It's inhumane. It's impossible. I woke up everyday _dreading _to go through that stupid landscape. Please please please, stop. Sincerely, Mike."

The entire compound falls silent.

"STOP BECOMING FEARLESS! STOP BECOMING FEARLESS!" someone starts chanting. Someone else joins in, and I join in, and Tobias joins in, and soon enough everyone is yelling the same battle cry. The one thing that unifies Dauntless. To stop this psychotic programme.

* * *

"-have to stop this," I beg as I attempt to catch up with Max's fast legs. "No one likes it. No one wants it. No one is benefitting from it. It's literally an impossible challenge that people are breaking themselves over. There have been at least 4 or 5 suicides, THAT WE KNOW OF. Please stop this before it goes any further. You heard the people just now. We were all chanting to stop the programme. It was loud, it was unified, and no one-"

"STOP!" Max lifts up his hand to shush me, turning around. "As a matter of fact, I recently received a letter telling me to please not discontinue the programme because this particular person was benefitting wonders from it. So obviously your fact about unification and no one benefitting is false."

"What?!" I yell. "Who?"

"They chose to remain anonymous," he says smoothly. "So take your Stiff self out of my office and let me to my work in peace."

"Excuse me?" I scoff. "If I remember correctly, I got number one in my initiate class. I think that makes me a Dauntless."

"Numbers and rankings don't change where you come from, Tris. Now leave."

"Take away Becoming Fearless. Do you really believe people can become completely fearless? Wouldn't that make us robots?"

"LEAVE."

"But-"

"Leave, or I'm going to call security."

That is the final straw. I storm out to where Tobias, Christina, Will, Uriah and Marlene are waiting. "So how'd it go?" Uriah asks excitedly. "I swear, if he said no, he's an even bigger nut job than I thought."

I grin wryly. "He said no."

"I called it!" Christina yells. "_I told you_. Max won't listen to reason. You need to _force _him to do your bidding. He's all brawn, no brain. Which makes it a good thing that we have that rebel group to join. You told the others about the meeting, Tris?" I nod. "Good. Tonight, we're going to change the world!"

There is a silence to let that sink in.

"I think that's taking it a bit too far, Chris," Will laughs, breaking the silence. Slapping his arm with a glint in her eye, Christina rolls her eyes.

"We're going to change the lives of the Dauntless," she amends as we go and look for the others.

* * *

Midnight.

All of us are creeping out of our apartments and to the Pit, where the meeting is being held. We're trying to be quiet, which is not very easy for me. For one, you know that feeling when you're eating something crunchy and when you take a bite it sounds like it's broadcasted over the room? The same thing was happening to me, but with the beat of my heart. Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum. My shoes weren't exactly the most quiet pair, but I was trying to be quiet, which probably helped. The entire compound was pitch-black, but two or three of us, including me, had flashlights to lead the way. I kept my mind alert and on the lookout for any threats as we stealthily walked across the compound.

We reached the Pit, and in the very middle, sitting in pitch darkness, were two women and one man. They were huddling, as if earnestly discussing something. Tobias cleared his throat and all of their heads snapped up in sync. Zeke sniggered.

"Can we help you?" one of the women sharply addressed us. "This is kind of a private talk. We didn't really expect anyone in the middle of the night."

"No, Sara, it's the kid!" the man suddenly shouts, pointing at me. "Prior! Tris Prior! The one we kidnapped the other day!" Sara's face twists in relief and she smiles.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" she says, her tone completely changed. "Have a seat, have a seat! My name is Sara Hopkins. I'm the head of this organisation, the Fearful. This is Mark Hopkins, my brother. And this is Olivia Webb, my best friend." Olivia nods.

"Please, call me Olivia," she smiles.

"What else would we call her?" Uriah mutters to Marlene. She smiles. _Ms Webb_, she mouths, rolling her eyes. I smile. They are so cute together. **(Ayeee Urilene for life)**

"Your group, it's the first one we've recruited," Sara explains. "So let me just tell you a few things about the Fearful. Despite our name, we aren't Fearful. Not at all. We are willing to do whatever it takes to shut down this programme. It's breaking people. Wasting lives. Destroying others. And forcing others- such as ourselves- to act.

Just like any other Dauntless citizen, we wanted the Becoming Fearless programme to either fail or to be shut down. The easiest way to do that is through hacking in it. The only problem with that is that the three of us aren't really experienced hackers. Is anyone here-"

"Me and Four," Zeke calls. "We're the tech guys here. We can get the job done really easily."

Sara smiles. "Excellent. While they do that, we have to focus on getting Max on our side. Marlene and Christina, you two can regularly go over to his room and pass him gift baskets. Preferably do this alone."

"No problemo," Christina smiles, showing a thumbs-up.

"Last but not the least, Fear Landscapes. We have to disable all of the rooms by the end of tomorrow," she continues. "Whoever doesn't have a job yet can do that. So that's Tris, Four, Christina, Will, Uriah and Shauna."

"Indeed," Shauna says with a smile. "When are we putting this plan into motion?"

"Now," Olivia interrupts. "We're starting now. You have a maximum of 4 hours. Quick!"

**the end yay. sorry for the partially slow update, the website kept deleting work and it sucks because I had to write it all again but anyways. hope you like the new chapter. what do you think of the group?**

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